Legends, When Read Between the Lines
by AquilaMage
Summary: Being the Goddess's chosen gets a bit more...interesting...when you're connected to one out of the loop of destiny's narrative. Skyward Sword retelling.
1. Chapter 1

**AN** : So this basically started as a way for me to write out some headcanons for a Skyward Sword au I've had floating around for a bit, and then I decided I wanted to put it out in the world. Partially because, hey, _someone_ else might enjoy it, partially because I decided I wanted the potential validation if I was going to write something that was turning out to be a decent length.  
Also: I haven't really edited this from being something where I didn't need to explain every detail since I knew my headcanons. Might do that later, but fair warning for that right now, I guess?

* * *

As the earliest rays of light were streaking through her bedroom window, Zelda was already slipping out the upper doors of the Knight Academy. She had to press herself inside the corner of the gate that separated the school from the rest of town to avoid the last sweep of the night guard, but her journey was otherwise uninterrupted. It helped that her path skirted the borders of Skyloft's residential district to a path that was bordered on one side by a hill barely two people tall and on the other by the open air of an edge of the floating island. It was hardly even a path, really. A curious wanderer would simply think it an untamed grassy area, and be quite surprised when it suddenly gave way to a modest garden and a single door flanked by large windows in the hillside.

She paused before the door only to check that her cloak was completely covering her other clothing before checking the door open with her shoulder, stepping inside with the momentum. "Vayu!"

"Right here," came a voice from the other side of the door. A young man stepped into view, wiping his hands on a towel before throwing it over a shoulder. "Wouldn't have expected you today." A beat. "You do know what day it is."

Paying his concerned tone no mind, Zelda hugged him. "Of _course_ I do. That's why I came!" In a motion she definitely hadn't practiced a dozen times the previous night, she pulled the cloak off in a single elegant motion before letting it fall from her upraised hand like a curtain in front of her. "Ta da!" A few seconds to let him look, then she spun around to give the full effect. "What do you think?"

Vayu gave a low chuckle as he watched, one hand over his mouth.

"What?"

"Nothing. You're adorable." He picked up the hem of the blue apron that hung to one side of her waist. "This the same costume they use every year?"

"Ye- actually, I'm not sure." Zelda looked down at herself. "I think so. Father was saying something about having to alter it, and it certainly feels old." Stepping back abruptly, so that the fabric slipped out of Vayu's grasp, she exclaimed. "Oh but it's so fun, isn't it? I didn't get to see the ceremony last year because I passed out of having to take the test and then father wanted me to go-, and besides this isn't even the whole outfit." A small pout. "There's this instrument I'm supposed to use that I have mostly figured out how to play, but I'm not allowed to take that off school grounds even more than the outfit, so, I guess you won't be able to see it. Sorry."

He gave a shake of his head. "It's not a problem. I wasn't even expecting to see you at all." One hand skimmed her arm from shoulder to elbow before dropping back down to his side.

She put her hands on her hips. "What kind of a person do you take me for? Just because you can't be at the ceremony because people are weird doesn't mean I don't want to include you!"

"I know," he whispered. Then, a "you finished the sailcloth. Let me see," while nearly tugging the knot holding it against her shoulders free on his own.

Zelda stiffened momentarily, so that the cloth fell off of her and had to be caught somewhere around her knees. Fidgeting with it to stall for time, she did her best to fold it presentably before holding it out as if for judging. As soon as it was in his hands, she turned away, a hand on the side of her face and the other curled around her side.

It took Vayu a moment before he could actually begin to examine the sailcloth, given that he was instead watching Zelda with a more than half-smile and partially closed eyes. Then he shook himself to attention.

The cloth itself was the same plain sturdy cloth every resident of the sky kept on their person to alleviate the issue of a falling impact when jumping from one's loftwing to the ground of whatever rock they were landing on. However, in contrast to the usual bright colors and patterns that gave each a distinctive look, this was a simple pure white with the Academy's symbol stitched into the middle in a pale blue thread. It was ever so slightly off center, with some sections more evenly filled in with threads than others.

"It's beautiful."

"You're just saying that." She shifted to cross her arms over her chest, still not looking in his direction. "There's a reason I've always stuck to knitting."

He frowned, folding the cloth over one arm before moving to face her. "Am not. It's perfectly shaped, not to mention the border technique you picked is a bit more complicated than it needed to be. _And_ without even letting me touch it until now, let alone help you."

Zelda's pout broke for a second. "I wanted to do it myself."

"And you did. Quite well." He nudged her side with his hip. "Especially for a first try."

"Karane's complaints about my swearing late at night and the multiple trips I had to take to wash out blood before it set would beg to differ."

"So hard on yourself."

"Because you're _never_ like that."

Vayu dropped the cloth on her head. "Either way, Link's still going to appreciate it." When she moved to pull it off, he tugged it down further over her face, laughing.

"It's not guaranteed Link will get it. There are other people in the ceremony, you know."

"Pff. That pompous ass and his cronies hardly count as competition. Link would have to be in pretty bad shape to have them win."

Zelda was troublingly silent as she swung the sailcloth back over her shoulders, knotting the ends in front of her.

"….wait, what?"

Clasping her hands together, she looked him in the eyes. "No, no, it's not that bad, but I am slightly concerned. Just a little. Uh," she spun one of her bracelets absently, "he just hasn't seemed to be paying as much attention any time I've seen him practicing. You know how he gets, head in the clouds sometimes."

Vayu glanced out the windows. "The ceremony's what, at ten? You could talk him into some last-minute practicing, if you can get him up." A smile.

"Oh I can manage _that_." She grinned mischievously. In a sing-song tone, "You're too nice with him, that's all." Bending down to pick up the cloak, she added, "But I should get going then. Still look presentable?"

Glancing her up and down, he nodded. "Yeah- wait, let me check, no, stop moving – here" Vayu stepped behind her. "Your hair was up, right?"

She huffed. "Not in anything I like. It's so hard to work with, I don't know how you manage." Running her hand through her hair, she gathered it all together. "Ugh. Can you just, do something? with it, really fast? Like, that thing you did to yours when we snuck out to that festival last month?"

"Yes yes hold on." In a few motions, the hair was gathered again, secured with a tie about three quarters of the way down her back. "Wait, do you have a ribbon or – thanks – there you go."

"Thank you!" She stepped out the door, paused until he followed her out, then laughed, shoulders rolling with her breath. "We'll come see you after, okay? As soon as they let us out of whatever celebration my father is bound to want to have." A roll of the eyes. "Link says he found this new food merchant he wants us to try out."

"Link _always_ has a new merchant." He sighed, but in a fond way. "I'll see you later then." Leaning in towards her, he paused inches from her face. "May I?" When Zelda nodded, he pressed a single kiss to her mouth. "You're going to be great."

She giggled. "I know." Then, her gaze became distant as it shifted far from the island to the open sky before them.

Vayu hesitated before gently laying a hand on her arm. "You alright?"

"Wha- uh, yeah. Yeah. Sorry, I just-" Blinking a few times, she turned to fully face him. "I'm fine. Well…something I kind of want to discuss later. An all three of us thing" she twirled her wrist to make circling motions with her hand. A beat, then, "but nothing urgent, and it's not a problem. Just something going on."

Huh. That was a little weird, and vague, but he trusted that Zelda knew what she was doing. "Very well." He came close to her face again. "If I may? Give this one to Link for me." Another small kiss. "Tell him I say fly well."

xxxxxxxx

Link was awoken from his nightmare by a loud squawking from somewhere above his head. Jolted into consciousness, he blinked as his vision adjusted to the streams of light coming in from his window. Although, there seemed to be something blocking most of it? His body was even groggier than his mind, and his arms ignored his thoughts about sitting up from the ground, being that he had woken up half out of bed, for some reason.

The shape in the window flung something at him that bounced off his head and slid towards the wall, gave another shriek, and exited from whence it came.

When he finally managed to sit up, the contents of his dream had already faded to the same haze and the vague impression of impending doom he had been getting for about a week now. Well, he figured it was the same. Being that he couldn't remember the contents of any of the pseudo-nightmares, they could have all been different, but at the very least they left the same impression on him. Dang-pre ceremony nerves.

He picked up the envelope next to the few purplish feathers that had fallen on the floor, ruffling a hand through his hair as he read the contents.

"Hey, sleepyhead. I know how much you like to sleep in, so I'm guessing this letter will be your alarm clock this morning. Did I guess right? Rise and shine, Link! Today's the Wing Ceremony! You promised to meet me before it starts, remember? You'd better not keep me waiting. -Zelda 3"

A fond sigh escaped him as he finished the letter. If he remembered correctly, it had been more like Zelda had hassled him about making sure he got up in enough time so much that he'd told her to wake him up herself. He propped open his window to let in some air.

….okay, it was _definitely_ earlier than when she'd promised to get him up. Like, barely after sunrise. He loved her, but what was she thinking?

Shaking his head, he threw on the clothes that had been left over the chair of his desk and headed out. He'd get into something more fitting for the ceremony when he was something actually approaching awakeness. It was a shame this was a school thing, because otherwise at least he would have had Vayu to defend him against Zelda's relentless morning person personality.

He stumbled his way out the doors and through the sunlit grounds of the academy, finally making it up and into the area before the Statue of the Goddess. As he crossed through the archway, he saw Zelda standing in the center, back facing toward him, playing a golden harp. Much as he hated to ruin the moment, he also wanted to talk to her.

Upon hearing his approach, Zelda stopped playing and turned to face him. "Morning sleepyhead. I see my loftwing managed to get you out of bed." Giggling, she reached over and extracted a feather from his hair. "But look at this instrument," she held it up to him. "It's supposed to be the same kind as the one the goddess used in the legends!" Then, she thrust it into his arms.

"And this outfit. I got you up extra early because I wanted you to be the first one at school to see me like this!" she said, spinning to give him the full effect. "How do I look?"

"Nice uhh… costume?" Link was trying his best to look unimpressed, but with Zelda's indignant reaction, he lost composure entirely.

Hands on her hips, she frowned at him, taking a step closer in his direction. "And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?" When he just broke into laughter, she huffed, crossing her arms. "See if I come get you next time."

That sobered him up a little. "No, no, Zelda, I was kidding, really-"

"I knooow." She gave a tiny smile.

"You look cute," he added.

Zelda rolled her eyes. "Ugh, that's the same thing Vayu said. Just for that though, I'm not showing _you_ the sailcloth until after, so you better win."

"Ah, there you are Zelda. Are you all prepared for today's ceremony?"

"Oh, hello, father." Link could see her stiffen ever so slightly at the man's appearance.

The school headmaster towered over the two of them. "Ah, Link you're here as well. Outstanding. It's encouraging to see you up so early for once. No doubt the ceremony had you so excited you could hardly close your eyes, eh?" He nudged Link in what was clearly supposed to be a friendly manner.

Link chose not to comment. Although he had long accepted that everyone knew about and constantly commented on his need for extra sleep, he always felt weird when people actually brought it up. It wasn't like he was being lazy, it was just how his body worked, and really only Zelda and Vayu had actually bothered to pay attention to that.

"If you win in today's ceremonial race," he continued, "you'll get to participate in the postrace ritual with Zelda, so give it your best out there."

Zelda and Link exchanged a Look. Her father (and a few other people) had been emphasizing that part to a degree that, upon examination and discussion, the three of them had decided was a little concerning. Since Link hadn't gotten the stellar score on the written examinations given a few months previously, he would need to take the more trafficked route of winning at the Wing Ceremony to become a senior knight trainee, which was the important part. To the headmaster, it appeared, this was just another way to "subtly" push the idea of Link and Zelda being together. Well, at least, as Vayu had put it, "he's not wrong, even if he's not entirely right either."

"Although victory will not come easily. Today's ceremony tests the rider's skill as much as his bond to his bird. And, not to concern, but I don't think I've seen Link out practicing nearly as much as the other students."

Zelda wouldn't have really called what Groose and the others did 'practicing' either, but she did give Link a skeptical side-glance to let him know she also had issue with his training discipline. "Yes, and that's part of why I wanted to see him. You see, I-"

"But really, you've known Link since you were both little." Oh boy, they were going in for a full-blown Parental Ramble today, huh? "Link and his loftwing share a special connection, one that I don't think any of us have seen anything like before. You know, as each of us in Skyloft is but one half of a pair, being only made whole by our loftwings, personally bestowed upon us by the Goddess as a symbol of divine protection. Even from the moment when Link met his bird under this very statue, we could tell they had an especially deep connection, what with him flying off right there and then, not even needing any instruction." He laughed. "Now that is a sign of one blessed by the Goddess indeed!"

Link turned his gaze downward, rubbing the back of his neck, while Zelda looked off to the side. Yes, yes, what he was saying was true, but the both of them were less than comfortable with these teachings of the Goddess, given circumstances. Link especially, since in addition, people either had high, high expectations for him because of it or resented him for being special.

"This is nothing to laugh at, father." Zelda managed eventually. "This ceremony is part of the final test for becoming a knight!" She knew how badly Link wanted this opportunity, and there was no way she was going to let him lose it, even if she did have to push his currently sleepy self around to get it. She took Link by the arm. "Listen, I know you'll fly your heart out today, but you also need to squeeze in a little practice before the race!" Dragging him towards the nearest landing, she added, "Oh come on, I'm not the only one thinking it. You'll thank me later."

Link went along with her up to this point, partially because it was less effort than resisting, partially because she was right. Not to mention she'd phrased that last bit as coded 'I talked to Vayu about this and he agrees with me,' so he really didn't have any room to argue. But there, at the edge, he pushed back against her as he came to a realization. "Zelda, hold on… I can't sense my loftwing out there."

"Ough, are you really trying to get out of having to practice? Nice try, but you're not fooling me." Before he could give anything more than a single "no, wait," she pushed him off the edge. "Off you go!"

On instinct, Link went to call for his loftwing. When it didn't appear even after a few seconds, he started to panic.

"His bird certainly is taking a long time getting here…" The headmaster commented.

"Shit," Zelda said under her breath, and took a running leap towards him. She streamlined her body to catch up to him as best she could before calling her own loftwing to catch the both of them. It was a bit of a struggle with the extra weight, but they finally managed to make it back to solid island.

"Link, I- I'm sorry. I should have listened to you." She reached out to where he was crouched next to her.

"Strange. For a loftwing to ignore the call of its rider, it's unheard of."

Zelda suppressed the urge to physically shoo her father away. "We're going to need time to find his loftwing. Father, can you head back to the school and see if they can do anything about delaying the race a little?" When he headed off, she stood, brushing dirt off her dress. "I'll fly around and see if I can spot them, alright? You should probably see if anyone in town has seen anything." A look of concern crossed her face when he didn't respond, and she reached out to him again.

With a sigh, he placed a hand on top of hers. "I'm fine. It's just- _super_ weird that they're not there, you know? Even when my loftwing's been sick, they've at least been able to come around. And then, I could _tell_ that." Smiling sadly, he got up and turned to go.

"Oh right, wait." Zelda put a hand on each shoulder, turning him back to face her. "In case I don't see you before the race starts, this is from Vayu." She kissed him. "He says fly well. And I- I'm sorry for not listening to you earlier."

He cupped the side of her face in one hand. "I know you meant well. Just- warn me next time you push me off something, alright?"

A laugh. "I'll try. Now get looking."

xxxxxxxx

Link had made it all the way through the school grounds and past the bazaar with no leads on anyone having seen his bird. He had just finished talking to Professor Orwell, who had appeared shortly after the bell at the school had started ringing to tell him that they were going to delay the ceremony for an hour, and was heading off to the residential area to see if he could find someone else to ask.

A moment later, Vayu poked out from inside a nearby bush.

He started. "Oh Goddes- oh, it's you. Why are you always doing that?"

"Sorry. Saw Zelda. She told me what happened, and I wanted to come find you, but there's not- you haven't seen-?" He crouched down again, gaze darting from side to side even though the area was completely deserted.

"No, I saw them at the school, and they're going to delay the race, so there's no reason why they'd leave until then."

" _Oh_. Good." Vayu picked his way out of the shrubbery. "You questioned Groose and his cronies yet?"

"Groose?"

He gave Link a flat look. "From what I heard, it sounds like something's interfering with your loftwing getting to you. If anyone was going to try to sabotage you, it's him. Although where they got the creativity to try something like this, even with three of them, escapes me completely."

"….I mean, you're right." He shrugged. "They're not at the academy, so probably in the main square." A pause as he slowly turned his gaze in that direction. "Ugh." He glanced back over his shoulder at Vayu. "Come with me?"

"I'd rather not,… if it's the same to you?" He was shifting his weight back and forth, tugging at the edge of a sleeve. "Just because there aren't any of the sages there doesn't mean there aren't any off-islanders, I mean there usually are, especially with something this important, and-"

Link waved his hands in front of him. "Vayu. Vayu, it's okay. I was mostly joking. I can go myself. Hey, look, why don't you check around the residential area, see if anyone there's heard anything?"

He took a couple deep breaths. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll do that. Don't go easy on them, alright?"

And with that, the two headed off their separate directions.

Fortunately (and unfortunately), Groose, Calwin, and Stritch were in fact at the main plaza, right by the lighthouse. As Link approached, he just caught the tail end of a conversation.

"…got this in the bag, man," Cawlin said as he massaged Groose's shoulders.

"Yeah." Groose sniffed, running his hands over his ridiculous hairstyle. "With that wimp out of the way, no one else stands a chance against the mighty Groose! Not that he did, anyway." As he finished the last sentence, he noticed the other two backing off. "What?"

"Ahem."

When he turned around to see Link standing almost directly behind him, he only startled for a brief second (kind of impressive, even Link had to grudgingly admit) before standing as high as he could in an attempt to use his towering status to intimidate his classmate.

"Well well, look who finally decided to wake up." He crossed his arms with a dismissive snort. "What's your problem, anyway? Oh, wait…I got it." He started circling Link as he ranted. "You're here to talk about today's race. I can see it in those dopey eyes of yours. They're pleading, 'Oh Groose, can you please find it in your heart to let me win today? You're just desperate to win so you can get some alone time with Zelda."

Link rolled his eyes. Literally no one else in the sky would ever have thought to have said that sentence, ever. Even without knowing they were actually already involved (which no one outside the relationship did), anyone who paid the slightest amount of attention would know that Link and Zelda were good good friends, hardly making him someone "desperate" for a bit of time with her. If anyone was desperate, it was Groose.

Speaking of. Groose chose that moment to stick his face in front of Link. "Well, sorry, pal. Groose doesn't do charity for wimps. My advice? Work hard and wish with all your heart. You might even come in second."

 _I don't think I've ever heard anyone refer to themself in the third person so much. Conceited much?_ None of Groose's posturing was really anything new, so irritating as it was, Link found himself tuning it out a bit.

"…Say, come to think of it, how come I don't see your bird? Where is that scruffy pile of red feathers? I can't imagine what could've happened to him. Do you think his tiny brain got confused by all the clouds and got lost?"

Really. Really? It had been pretty obvious Groose was behind his bird's disappearance as soon as Vayu had pointed it out, but Link wouldn't have thought he would be so bold…or dumb, to basically taunt him about it in public. Link huffed.

Then, under his breath but clearly making sure Link could hear, he added, "Or maybe you've been hanging around the freak too long and it's starting to rub off…"

Link tensed. Then, when he noted that there wasn't anyone close enough to have heard, it was replaced with anger. " _Leave him out of this_ ," he growled. "you want to mess with me, fine. In fact, you know what? Bring it on."

"Pfft." Groose leaned back from him, arms crossed. "Sure. Only thing is, I don't know how you're going to do that with no bird! You gonna grow wings? Hey, maybe you should ask-"

" _Shut up_!"

Quickly bringing his hands in front of him in response to the outburst, Groose watched for a moment before a smirk blossomed on his face. "And here I actually got worried for a second!" He laughed and he fell back to a relaxed posture. "See, this is what I'm talking about. You float through life with your head in the clouds, just because you 'go way back' with Zelda and always have her defending you. Would you wake up, straighten up, and grow a backbone already?" He pointed a finger at Link, close enough he was almost poking him in the face. "Dopes like you are dragging our honored academy through the mud."

"And just who might you be talking about, Groose?" Zelda was standing at the far side of the square, hands on her hips.

"Oh, Zelda!" Groose sprung back from Link, hands going to adjust his hair as he spoke. "Hey. Nah, it's nothing. Just, you know, a little bit of friendly pre-race banter."

With a huff, she cleared the distance in a few steps, almost pushing Link to the side to stand between the boys. "Don't even try it, Groose." She copied his move from earlier, forcing him to take a step back to avoid the seemingly very real possibility of having an eye taken out in her fervor. "Just because Link is above getting into some stupid fight with someone twice his size doesn't mean anything! He's a student at the academy, like all of us." Her gaze hardened even more, if that were possible. "And may I remind you that as a senior, I'm responsible for making sure all of the junior trainees are acting according to the standards of 'our honored academy.' If I catch you stepping out of line…"

Admirably, Groose did try to match her stare, but failed within seconds. "Yeah, well… It's not like I am doing anything wrong, so you're not going to find anything!" He swung around so his back was to her. "Ok, we're outta here, boys." Starting off towards the diving platform, he only turned once at the edge and joined by the other two. "Later, Link! Hope you find your bird, or else you're gonna have to sit out today's race! That could be a major setback toward knighthood, so find that bird or get real used to the taste of failure! It's your special flavor." The three jumped off the edge in unison, soaring off moments later.

"…how long d'you think they practiced that before they could do it without knocking into each other or falling?"

"Too long." Zelda crossed her arms. "Ugh. I only heard that last bit, but I doubt they actually gave anything that could actually be useful, huh?"

A sigh. "Nope. Not even something we could even slightly use to argue it with the school either."

"Figures. Well, if we can't do it the easy way, we'll have to make the hard way work." She stared off into the distance. "Problem is, I can't think of that many places they could have hidden your loftwing on Skyloft. Ummm…there's a cave somewhere in the woods by the hills, right?"

Link stared at her. "Is there?"

Throwing her hands up in the air, she said, "I don't really know, it was just something Vayu had mentioned finding when he was out climbing one time." A thoughtful look. "But I think he also said it opened out into the island face at one point… Okay. You see if you can find him, check out the area on foot. I'm going to fly around that area and see if I can locate anything from that angle."

It took a few more precious minutes than he would have liked to get to Vayu, sneak back into the academy and out with a sword, and head through the woods until they reached the base of the waterfall that provided the water for Skyloft. The two exchanged few words as Vayu pointed out the opening neatly obscured by a section of fallen rocks that made it impossible to reach without clambering over some of them, and the two entered the cave.

The inside was just annoyingly damp enough to get on the nerves, only slightly mitigated but the soft echoes of the waterfall and their own footsteps.

"I thought there were supposed to be monsters in here." Link drew tiny patterns with his sword as he held it at his side, watching as if daring something to come out of the shadows.

Vayu ducked around a stalagmite. "Supposedly. I haven't been in here. It kind of freaks me out. Besides," he added as he fell back into step as they followed a particularly lengthy stretch. "that's a good thing, because if there were any, you'd be on your own, and while I seem to remember you were always decent with combat practice, it's not like you've actually fought anything."

The comment stopped Link in his tracks for a second, and he let out a halfhearted "excuse you," but it wasn't as if Vayu was wrong. Sure, he'd only done some practice drills with other students and instructors, but even fully fledged knights rarely encountered anything more threatening than a few chus. "Shit!"

Both of them ducked to the ground as a shadow detached itself from the wall and flew at their heads. Vayu pressed himself against the wall. He gave Link a look accompanied by a shake of the head in the direction the thing had gone.

Sighing, Link tiptoed over, sword held in front of him in a defensive pose. "Pff. It's only a keese," he called. "Yah!"

In reaction to the sudden sound, the keese had taken flight once more, this time cutting into his arm with its tiny claws.

Spinning around to where he had felt it go, Link spun around again when he failed to locate the keese among the shadows. As he moved, his grip on the sword loosened so that he was really just dragging it along beside him. There was a shuffling noise above him. He swung the sword, feeling it connect with something solid. However, the impact put him off balance and he stumbled, catching another scratch, this time on his shoulder, before he could get another hit. This one sent the creature plummeting to the ground before disappearing in a puff of purple smoke.

"Is that what it's supposed to look like?" Vayu was curled up in a ball, arms crossed over the top of his head.

Link sighed, sheathing his sword. "You know, we can probably get you something, and then you can have a go at it."

"Heh. No, thank you," he said as he made his way over to the other. "As far as I know, there's no way of ripping the magic out of someone's hands and turning it against them, so I'll stick with that, thanks." Shushing Link's attempts to make some kind of comeback (probably), he grabbed at the wrist of Link's arm, using the leverage to hold it straight. "You're bleeding."

Before Link could argue that it was only a mild scratch, Vayu had already retrieved a length of bandage and started wrapping it as they went.

They stepped through the next opening to finally see open sky again. A narrow ledge wound its way across the island face, which, as they followed it, led to a small natural platform in the open and then another cave face.

"Link! Vayu!" Zelda directed her loftwing's glide as close to the platform as she could, jumping off close enough that the boys had to catch her in their arms to keep all three of them from stumbling to the ground. "Hey," she breathed. "I went over this spot like twice before. Let me tell you, it is really well camouflaged." Perking up at Link, she leaned to get a look over their shoulders. "You find your bird yet?"

Link slid his arms out from the tangle of their limbs. "Not yet, but…" He turned his head, feeling out. "I think I feel him?" A hand gripped the handle of his sword. "Let's go find out."

This cave was shallow, only turning once before dead-ending, with the tail end being barricaded off with a number of planks, behind which shrieking could be heard. Link severed the ropes holding the wood up with his sword, barely waiting for them to hit the ground before bounding to meet his loftwing.

"Hey, hey, it's ok, I'm right here. Those jerks didn't hurt you, did they?" He hugged the bird around the neck. "I'm glad you're safe, buddy. Come on, we have a race to win."

Once outside, Link's loftwing immediately stretched its wings out and took off. Laughing, Link ran to the edge to meet it, stopping right before he actually jumped. "Right! Vayu, maybe you should take this." he began unbuckling the sword, "I don't want you running into monsters alone."

"Nah." Vayu leaned off the edge slightly, craning his neck upwards. "We're not that much lower than the main level. I think."

Furrowing his brow, Link nudged him away from the ledge. "Ohhh no you don't."

"Why? It's a short distance, it hasn't rained it days, and this section of the island tends to have a lot of good ledges and bumps. That's pretty much nothing. Besides," he poked Link in the chest, "I have way more experience with climbing than fighting monsters, so it's far safer."

"And that's exactly what worries me! I know it's something you like, and yeah, wind magic makes it so it's not really an issue if you do fall…at least that's how you keep explaining it, but it's just-" Waving his arms a little frantically now, Link stared at Vayu, trying to get him to back down. "I mean it's still hanging over empty air and I know it's kind of the same as flying when you put it that way, but… Ugh, Zelda, help me out here. ….Zelda?"

"Huh?" When the two turned to her, Zelda was staring out into the sky, a slightly empty look on her face. Eventually she blinked and turned to them, giving an attempt at a smile. "Sorry, I guess I got distracted for a moment. We should really get going though, Link. The ceremony should be starting any minute."

The boys exchanged a look. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I-I just…thought I heard something, and it felt almost like it was calling out to me. Like, from under the clouds and-" She shook her head as if to clear something out. "This isn't a good time. But later, I will, promise. I've been wanting to, but…yeah."

Vayu sighed. "Alright you two. Shoo, go do your thing. Kick Groose's butt, show everyone else up with how awesome you both are, keep Zelda from fighting the sages, _try_ to enjoy the party." And as the other two waved goodbye and jumped off to meet their loftwings, he added, "But do sneak off some point tonight and we can all talk it over. I'll see you then!"

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It was closer than she would have liked – she'd been right the day before when she'd told Link "the chances of Groose letting you have a fair race are just about less than zero" – but in the end it had been Link to grab the statuette and earn the right to graduate to the senior class. As he flew back towards the crowd in the square, she joined him on her own loftwing, startling him for a second. "Hah, sorry. But that was amazing flying out there! Now, come on, let's get on with the ceremony."

When they arrived at the statue of the Goddess, a small crowd had gathered around the base, a small crowd had gathered. Zelda glanced down at them from the platform above, and, once she had moved to a spot so she couldn't quite be seen from below, stuck her tongue out.

" _Zelda_ ," Link cautioned.

"What? They can't see me." She sighed as he continued to give her a slightly judgmental look. "I know, the Order of Hylia is really good overall, and they're mostly the ones from Skyloft anyway, but it's the principle of the thing." Huffing, she motioned downward to let the observers know the ceremony was to start. "Link, please hand me the statuette."

As she placed it in the carved-out section of the statue, she recited the lines of the ritual that had been drilled into her head for the past month or so: "Great goddess, guiding light and protector of our people, grant us your blessing and mercy as I act in your stead during this ceremony." And then under her breath, "and try not to smite me or whatever for disagreeing with certain teachings. If you're at all reasonable, you'd agree with me anyway."

Then, she turned back around to Link, who had knelt on the stone, holding her hands out above him. "Valiant youth who grasped victory at the celebration of the bird folk... In accordance with the old ways... I now bestow the blessings of the goddess upon you." Reaching back to untie the cloth around her shoulders, she continued, "The blessings of the goddess drift down from the heavens aloft a sail, which I now pass on to you."

Link took the cloth in both hands, letting the edges spill over as he examined the embroidered pattern in the middle. "You made this yourself?"

"Yeah," she said, a little shortly, crossing her arms before she could remember herself. Then, the tension in her shoulders dropped as she noticed the way Link ducked his head at her comment. "Yes. I'm glad I got to give it to you, since I spent so much time and effort and blood into it. Not that you can tell!" She brightened, standing straighter, hands going to her hips in emphasis with the last word.

Link laughed, running his thumb over the blue emblem of the academy and the goddess.

"But seriously, thanks for making it up here to do this with me today like you promised. Now, we really should finish up this ritual. Wouldn't want to keep them waiting." A moment's hesitation. "You… do know what happens at the end, right?"

Raising his eyebrows, he tilted his head back towards the courtyard, shifting his legs further apart to drop his weight. "Maybe…."

Her arms, which had just drifted to a neutral position at her sides, flew back to her sides as she dipped her head, one shoulder higher than the other. "Uch! Hey, I told you earlier, I'm not going to push you off the edge without warning!" A sigh, then she relaxed, clasping her hands together in front of her. "But yeah. To finish the ceremony, you need to drop down right into the center of that round design in the courtyard. Something about how the Goddess gifted a sailcloth to her chosen hero and this echoing that by symbolizing the trust we have in her gifts to provide for us or something…"

Link smiled at her, a little dreamily. He didn't doubt how much she hated the organized religious support for Hylia, but it was also super clear that she did actually care for the legends themselves. It was super cute when she did things like this, describing things with that light in her eyes. She didn't do that nearly as much as when they were kids – a little more lately once they'd reassured her it wasn't hypocritical at all – and he was glad to see it now. He gave her one little wave before he jumped off the edge, sailcloth clutched tightly in both hands.

The next few hours after that were a blur of congratulations as seemingly everyone in the school (even Groose muttered a halfhearted one, although obviously mostly for the sake of posterity) and town made their way to Link at some point, and the general ambiance of a celebration within outer courtyard of the school. It wasn't that bad, actually. Link enjoyed being around people, and most of them there were people he considered friends.

Later into the evening, about an hour before dark, he found Zelda sitting in a chair in the corner, the cloth she had had fastened to her belt draped over her shoulders as she nursed a mostly-empty glass of milk in her lap.

She perked up immediately once she noticed him. "Oh thank Hylia." Standing so she didn't have to strain her neck upwards to talk to him, she dropped her voice to a whisper. "You think it's good to sneak out now?"

"Safe a time as any, I think." And he took her hand and led her inside the school proper, making as if to wander the corridors before emerging onto the open upper level. From there, he broke into a run towards the nearest diving platform, laughing as Zelda stumbled to hurry and catch up with him.

Breathlessly, they both landed on their loftwings, the echoes of their laughter dying away as they flew a distance from the island.

"Do a loop around before we head over?"

"Oh definitely."

As they passed though a cloud, Zelda looked over to Link. The late-evening light reflected off him in reds and oranges, so that he matched his bird even more than usual. She let herself watch him direct his bird with the most fluid motions she had seen, barely needing to nudge them before getting a response, eyes closed the whole time with the most peaceful expression. As they rounded over the far side of the island, she called out. "Hey Link… today was amazing. Watching the race and performing the ritual with you…it was really nice."

He smiled, then stuck his tongue out at her, directing his loftwing closer to hers in a playful nudge, as if he would really run into her.

Her retort was cut off as a sudden shift in the wind pressure pulled her bird off-course. "Ah! What is going-" She gripped her loftwing's feathers as it tried to flap against the storm of wind that pushed her further and further down. The last thing she saw before being engulfed in darkness was the distant figure of Link growing farther away.


	2. Chapter 2

Link rolled over in bed for at least the fourth time in the past hour. He lay there staring up at the ceiling for a minute, sat up, squinted at the shutters of his window, and flopped back down on the bed. Only to softly curse as his bruises flared into pain again from the impact. After an indeterminate amount of quiet that felt like hours but was probably three minutes, he lifted his legs up and kicked them against his mattress a few times.

How was he supposed to sleep when Zelda had just disappeared? Her father had believed him when he told him about the tornado, but then insisted that Link go back to resting and recover from his injuries. Yes, it was nighttime, but there were _some_ knights who had specially trained to fly at night! They didn't even know where she was, if she was alright, sure she it wouldn't matter much to wait until morning if she had found some island to land on, but if not she would be out there flying lost for hours, and loftwings had no sense of direction at night, and they couldn't keep flying _that_ long and-

He twisted to the side, curling his legs up to his torso, and squashed his pillow over his face. _This isn't helping! It's not like_ you _could do anything about it right now anyway. She'll be alright. She_ has _to be alright._

Sleep came, slowly and not easy, but in time Link dozed off. Shortly afterward, though, he heard a voice in his ear, like if bells could whisper. And there was a presence hovering above him. He sat up in bed, but there was nothing out of place in the room. Padding over to the door, he cracked it open just enough to peek his head out into the hall, ready to retract if this turned out to be a set-up for a prank.

Instead, at the base of the stairs a shining blue and purple figure in the shape of a girl floated. When he looked its way, the figure inclined its head to him, and then flew up the stairs with a liquid shimmering noise and a trail of diamond sparkles.

"Ooookay." He rubbed his eyes, counted to ten. Pinched the skin of his wrist. Nope, definitely awake. Another short pause, then a huge shrug that was more of a roll of the shoulders. He gave a long exhale and then shut his door, creeping up the stairs to follow the apparition.

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Link emerged from the dormitory at the earliest part of sunrise that could still technically be called that. He drew the Goddess Sword, examining it as he held it flat in both hands. It might have been just him, but he thought it was a little heavier now that the spirit that possessed it had returned. As he stared into its reflection, impressively bright given how only the barest streaks of light touched the horizon, he tried to steady himself, remember all that had just been told to him.

Magical swords with sentient beings inhabiting them, a vast land below the clouds, destinies supposedly laid out by the Goddess herself…. Heavy, but all that was secondary to the first thing Fi had told him. Zelda was still alive out there, and he was going to get her back, no matter what. The last vision he had seen of her played in his mind, falling through the tornado, a chance encounter as they had-

He froze, the jolt of his limbs scratching the sword over his palm ever so slightly. "Shit," he whispered under his breath. "Vayu."

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"So let me see if I have this right," Vayu said as he peeled the bandage from yesterday off Link's shoulder. "You two get caught up in a freak windstorm. Zelda disappears and when you wake up, a spirit appears and leads you to the sword it inhabits. She tells you that Zelda is some kind of 'spirit maiden' and that she's on the Surface. And that you're the Goddess's chosen hero and you have to go there and fight some mysterious dark forces to get her back."

"…Yeah, pretty much."

He was quiet as he finished laying on the fresh bandage. Then, he groaned and leaned forward, head resting against Link's back. "And you're sure there's no way this wasn't just a really weird dream, right?"

Link shifted on the couch. "Can you not- it feels weird having hair touch my back; I don't know how you guys stand it."

"Baby."

"And no." He stretched over to reach the sword propped against the wall. "Or else where would I have gotten this? Besides, Zelda's dad was there too."

"…" Vayu crossed his arms, frowning. "But you have no idea what this really involves, what's down there or what you have to actually do or anything, right?"

"No. But it's not like that's going to stop me, considering." Link sighed, relaxing the grip on the scabbard until it rested in his lap. Then he noticed the way Vayu was looking off into the distance. Following what he figured Vayu's trail of thought would be, he inhaled sharply as an anxious feeling began to settle in his stomach. "Look, Vayu, I know you're worried, but, uh…."

"I can't come with you. I know." He continued to stare off, voice kept coolly neutral.

Link flinched. He leaned forward, waving his hands as he talked. "Well it's not exactly- I mean… It's not like I wouldn't want you! But…"

Vayu gave him the looking-over-your-glasses-at-someone-judgingly look, but without actually having glasses. "I'm not upset." Then he leaned back so he was stretched out over most of the couch, legs tucked between the cushions and Link and his head balanced on the arm. "Alright, I am a little. But that's me being dumb about it." He waved a hand. "Hush."

"I wasn't-"

"You were," he said, head still inclined so he was watching the ceiling. "It's true and you know it. This is a mission appointed to you by the Goddess herself, supposedly. Your prophecy didn't exactly mention a third party, and I doubt the Goddess would look favorably on her champion taking someone removed from her grace on a mission of this kind of importance. _Besides_ ," he added, poking Link in the side as best he could with his leg, "it's not like I could even practically go anyway. Where, exactly, did you say the opening to the Surface was? At least an hour's flight, right?" He finally sat up, gently smiling. "It just doesn't make sense."

He had a point, but Link pouted at him anyway. It was the principle of the thing. "Fine. Although now that I'm thinking about it, I really would feel better if I had someone else around, and you are first choice."

"Yes, well, it can't be helped."

Link relaxed a little, leaning his side into the back of the couch. Burrowing his head in between the top part of the back of the couch and the wall, he said, "This does scare me, though. A lot." A deep breath, struggling a little to get it out. "I-it's just…so much."

The sound of weight shifting on the couch, the cushion he was on lowering, and then a warm pressure wrapping itself around Link. "I know, I know. It's okay." Vayu curled his fingers through Link's hair. "Maybe I can't go with you, but I am going to do everything I can to support you." He pulled back, holding Link at arm's length. "Got it?"

"Yeah."

"Link. Link, I know you can do this." Vayu softened. He gently peeled Link away from the edge of the couch so they were facing each other again. "You've made it this far in training to be a knight for good reason, and, you know, this is _pretty_ much the same thing. Similar. Whatever."

Link couldn't help but laugh a little at that. "I guess."

"And you _care_. I know you're not normally aggressive, but this is about _Zelda_. I mean," he took Link's hand in his own, squeezing it gently. "you remember when I told you about my incident with the Order? And how you got so upset you accidentally broke the arm of Zelda's one chair and said you would fight them?"

He ducked his head down, but Vayu managed to catch the beginnings of a blush on his face. "Yeah," he said in a small voice.

"Exactly. Just to what you did to the chair to the face of the person who took her!"

"Vayu no." Link sat up and took his other hand, firmly swinging them both. "Not like that. Rescue, yes. Senseless beating, no."

" _Fine_ ," he mock-sighed, shaking his head.

They stayed like that for a while, a moment of calm before things had to break off. Sliding his hands out of the other's grip, Link said, "Can I put my shirt back on now?"

"Is the stuff I put on for your bruises dry?"

"Yes," he said, already getting off the couch and picking up the first layer of the uniform.

Vayu stretched from where he was still sitting as he watched. "It's certainly an improvement."

A muffled "what?" came from inside the shirt Link was struggling to get over his head.

"An improvement. The color of the uniform for this year."

Finally tugging the material free of his head, he reached over to pick up the mail. "I guess. Yellow isn't that bad."

"Not with Zelda's hair color." He got up and started wandering to the kitchen/medicine ingredient storage area. "Practically blends in, but just off enough that it doesn't quite."

"True. But if she keeps up like she does it'll eventually have enough mud stains that won't be an issue anyway."

A comfortable silence settled as Link finished dressing to the various clinks and shuffling noises of things moving in the pantry. It could almost have been like a normal morning. Almost.

Vayu came over and sat down on the chair next to where Link was currently fiddling with the straps on his boots. Without a word, he slid a plate across the table.

"What about you?"

"I'm not the one going anywhere. Besides, I need to go find something that will help you," he said, standing up and walking off around the corner to his sleeping area.

Link shrugged and started eating. He wasn't about to complain about having breakfast, especially since it wasn't school food.

When he returned, it was carrying a small drawstring bag that clinked when he set it down on the table.

"Mmmf," Link said through a slice of bread, waving his fork in Vayu's direction.

"Don't talk with food in your mouth." He pulled the other bag onto his lap as he sat back down. "And I'm not giving you more than I can afford, although Goddess knows I would if you needed it for this. Look, you should be able to get a shield from the academy, but if you can't then you're going to have to hope there's a travelling merchant who happens to have one, and even if they do it won't be cheap. Otherwise, I want to make sure you have the best possible supplies and- Oh, right. When you stop at the potion shop, tell Luv you're calling in the favor she owes me and that you want one of those really nice glass bottles that you can actually use more than once instead of a skin. And make sure she gives you at least two servings of a basic potion."

Having finished eating, Link rolled his eyes as he slid the plate back across the table.

"What?"

"Nothing." He hesitated, then dragged the pouch towards himself. "You're cute when you get concerned. Anything else?"

"I wish I had more I could give you, but no." Standing up, he gestured toward the door. As they crossed the threshold, Vayu tugged Link into a hug. "Bring her back safe. But…take care of yourself too, alright?" Pushing him back so he could look at him, he said, "If you can come back in between whatever you end up doing, just…let me know how things are going?"

He nodded wordlessly.

"Be safe. Well, as safe as you can be, I suppose. I love you."

A second into turning to go, Link whirled back and hugged Vayu once more. He kissed him, once, and said "We'll be back before you know it. I promise."

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"Okay, so falling out of the sky and landing in a beam of light? Being some "spirit maiden" chosen by the Goddess? Mission to save the world? I can get all that. What I can't understand is why Hylia would send me on a giant dangerous mission involving this much travel _in an outfit that doesn't involve pants_." Zelda walked back into the temple proper, arms held out to accentuate the draping sleeves of her new pure-white dress. "I mean, really. It's like she left the costuming detail to a guy."

The old woman sighed. "Your garb symbolizes the form which the Goddess herself took, as you are now to be her emissary."

"Yeah, but the Goddess probably had some dirt-repelling magic going on." Kicking at the ground with the edge of her new sandal, she pulled at the sides of the skirt. "Ask anyone who knows me; this is going to get gross about five seconds after I step outside."

It was actually already happening. As the girl moved her foot, she was loosening the dust of the temple floor. The dress's hemline was a little too high to catch it, but the woman could tell there would be scuff marks on the shoes if this kept up. "….Very well. Keep those garments safe while you travel for use while you meditate and purify yourself so that you may connect with the Goddess."

Zelda flapped her hands. "Yesss," she whispered as she collected her other outfit. "Knew putting on pants under the costume was a brilliant idea."

When she returned, yet again, the woman looked her up and down before nodding. "One last thing before you depart. Since it seems fate has decided to separate you from the chosen champion, I'm afraid your way going will be much more difficult."

"Oh, _that_." She waved a hand dismissively. "Link does alright in combat classes, but I have a whole year over him. Besides, I also pack a mean punch. Or so I assume, from how bullies tend to react."

"Yes, well." The old woman coughed. "This is not a question of ability, I am afraid. The nature of your appearance indicates that a strong force of evil is already active. Should you be spotted by monsters and allow even one to escape, the likelihood of them alerting their leader is high, and I am afraid this is one whose ability far outclasses either of yours combined at the moment. Escape would be nigh impossible, and I do not think I need to explain what that would mean for all of us."

"Oh." Deflating visibly, she clutched her bag of belongings closer to her chest. "Good thing I'm great at hiding too?"

"Indeed. Let us hope that will not be necessary though. Hylia's blessings be upon you on your journey, child."

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Long enough later that she'd lost track of the time, Zelda was crouched in the dirt of the space between the roots of a tree, breath heavily regulated as she struggled to both calm herself and keep from doing anything that would attract the attention of the monsters right below the ledge she was currently on. Things had been going so well up until the point where she had noticed the strangely bulbous yellow fruits hanging from a tree and climbed up to investigate. The stem connecting it had been far more fragile than what would be expected, given the fruit's size, and it had tumbled to the ground between her fingers, the noise attracting a few of those red creatures she'd glimpsed once before in her trek. Fortunately, they hadn't seen her, as she had dived down to the far side of the tree to where she was huddled now, waiting.

The screeching noises and odd shuffling only continued, however, and as the minutes creeped on and her insides twisted in on themselves more and more, she resolved that the best way out of this mess was, in fact, out. As in leaving. Swinging her legs over the non-monster-occupied side of the ledge, she slid down feetfirst, tucking and rolling as she landed. Freeze. No change in the sound coming over. Without a glance backwards, she jogged up the next incline she could find, coming up to another flat area that quickly dropped off again. But if she could spring off that boulder near the cliff, she should be able to get enough height to-

"Kwee!"

"Agh!" Zelda fell backward as the very squashy Definitely _Not_ A Rock rose from the forest floor to reveal a massive brown-and white teardrop shaped figure.

"…you do not appear to be a monster," the creature said.

"No." She scooted back a little further, just to be safe. "Are you?"

"Kwee heh heh. Of course not. I am the elder of the forest kikwi, Bucha." He waved his incredibly tiny arms. "But if you are not a monster, then you are very brave to be out in the forest, especially without camouflage such as ours."

Pushing herself up with her hands, she walked toward the kiwki. "I don't exactly have a choice. I need to get to the temple in the deepwoods." She glanced around. Unless he was going to give her directions, she knew she needed to go before she got sidetracked talking to someone else. She'd already spent what was probably too much precious time listening to that rock-man spout outrageous fantasies about her world, even as amusing as they were.

A screeching in the distance sent the elder into a fit of tremors, quickly throwing himself to the side and back into camouflage mode. When Zelda didn't move beyond scanning the area for visible monsters, he whispered, "The deep woods are even more dangerous than here right now, koo wee." His beady eyes shifted in a direction about the opposite of where she had come from, presumably towards her destination. "We would be more than willing to let you stay with us, where it's safe and-"

Zelda, who had backed up as he spoke, suddenly bounded towards him, landing with both feet on his exposed belly to vault off and over to the other side of the gap. She took a second to catch her breath while crouched in the grass, dusted her hands off on her dress, and took off again.

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Vayu paced around his house, wringing his hands. Three days. It had been _three days_ and in that time he'd prepped the empty garden spaces for planting, dusted every imaginable surface, and re-rearranged his work desk twice, on top of the usual odd jobs he ran for Skyloftians and regular merchants to the bazaar. He picked up a book off from the stand next to the couch. Some reading might help get his mind off-

One glance at the writing on the inside cover had him dropping it back down with a light thud. No. Nope, that was one of Zelda's books (in hindsight not surprising, she had more books here than he did, however that had ended up happening). Bad thoughts, bad thoughts.

A few minutes of him just pulling at the ends of his hair ensued, accompanied by ragged, deep breaths. Then he gave a full-body shudder, shook his head, and burst out the door. The direct light and lungfulls of crisp air gradually settled his head. _They've both been gone far longer than this, at less notice sometimes, and it's always turned out fine. Sure, this is on a completely different scale, but… Ah, Goddess! This is_ completely _worthy of being terrified about. But, Vayu what_ good _is worrying going to do, huh? Things are dangerous for the both of them, and you worrying instead of using your position as safest and one with the most free time certainly won't get them out of it any faster._

Nodding to himself, he walked back inside, reemerging with a sense of purpose in his step as he strode off towards the waterfall. Normally, he would have taken a longer route that avoided going into the path of the trading district, but this time in the afternoon meant that everyone would be too busy to really pay him any mind. He only finally paused when he reached a spot rather close to the one where he and Link had found the cave a few days prior. But this time, his destination was in a far more vertical location.

Creeping towards the edge of the island, Vayu examined the skies in every direction of him before sliding a grappling hook out of the bag over his shoulder and hefting it up in the direction of the small floating rock above. Giving the rope a sharp tug to ensure its stability, he started up its knotted surface. Once up, it was a few minute's pause before he repeated the maneuver on the remaining couple of rocks, until he was upon the highest point of Skyloft, the bowl-shaped island from which the source of the island's water flowed down to the lake below.

He gave a small sigh as he removed his climbing gear. Here, with no obstructions, the wind tugged even more persistently at him, dancing across the palm of his hands, more sensitive from having just removed gloves, and blowing hair and the now-loose ends of his sleeves in every direction. _Now_ he could sit and actually get some planning done.

Zelda's end was a bit easier to deal with. Without being able to contact her, he didn't know what she was going through, making it nearly impossible to assess her needs. However, seeing as her mission was tied to the Goddess, any information about the legends could potentially hold something useful. Well, sneaking into the academy library wouldn't be too hard; he still knew most of the staff and they would be more than willing to let him in. Zelda's room, likewise. The only trouble spot was the local temple of Hylia. Yes, they would have the most information, and it had been years and a completely different place and he'd changed his name, but… Well, still best not to push one's chances. There were plenty of people who owed him various favors – as much as tying himself to that many people was a little unsettling in ways he couldn't quite put into words, he'd quickly realized that being useful was enough of a shorthand for likeability that it meant people would hesitate to turn against him. You know, should that possibility become an issue again.

Link, on the other hand… Vayu had to presume he would be facing monsters, given that he had been gifted that sword, but again, the details he'd been relayed by the sword spirit had been incredibly vague. That and it involved a world much more expansive than any of the islands in the sky. So… more potions, basic medical supplies, if he could find any weapons that Link might use, supplies to repair or improve what he already had, be ready with sewing supplies so he could repair his gear when he came back…

Plenty to start with. Besides, it wasn't as if he even knew whether he _would_ see Link again before things were over.

He shook his head violently. _That's it, no more thinking right now_. Pulling his legs out from the water, he gathered everything back into his bag. A few steps took him to the edge overlooking the waterfall. One foot half over, curled into the edge of the cliff. Another step, then another. Vayu only opened his eyes once he was completely out over open air. Wind currents buffeted his hair up and across his face – he really should have braided it back like usual but this just felt more _right_ – as they held him in place. It wasn't a perfect stillness; he was drifting up and down rather than held in stasis, but that was to be expected.

He heard a loftwing's squawk in the distance behind him, losing focus just long enough to drop a few feet before he could coax another current of air to catch him. Doing this out in this visible a spot wasn't exactly the best of ideas. Having a boyfriend who was friends with most of the knights current and in training, and a girlfriend who was more than willing to intimidate those who weren't meant that Vayu wasn't about to be harassed by some knight on patrol freaking out about him "putting himself into danger" or "going where you're not really supposed to, for safety, you understand," but still. While magic wasn't uncommon among the sky's residents, he was pretty sure he was the only one trying to harness it for flight-related purposes (ignoring the fact that he couldn't _fly_ fly yet), and that kind of sticking out always made him nervous.

With a sigh, he straightened out his arms, palms up, and lifted them, urging the wind as he did so. He was improving there too, it seemed. Only the first twinges of a headache confronted him as he touched ground again. Another quick rest, then, and onto the academy before it closed to visitors for the evening.

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"Master Link, I have detected Zelda's aura emanating from within this structure." Fi emerged from Link's sword as he stumbled down the final hill on his path towards the gigantic building. She continued as he stopped to lean on a nearby tree, "However, I have also detected the presence of numerous monsters. Are you sure you want to proceed?" Her face and voice were impassive as always, so it was probably him projecting an air of concern.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to act as though it was there. Link dropped to the ground, wiping his forehead with the back of one gloved hand, only to grimace when it left a streak of mud that was even more annoyingly itchy. After struggling to clear _that_ off, he realized that the sword spirit was still hovering before him. Shrugging apologetically, he said, "Give me a few minutes, and I'll be good to go." Then he reached into his side pouch for the waterskin, wincing as the muscles in his side ached in response.

Overall, he would have to say things were actually going better than expected. Despite the number of monster encounters he'd had, he'd come off relatively injury-free. The fact that most of them, the bokoblins, had been wielding swords made it easier, since that was what he'd been trained on, and the best of them held their weapons like a student in their first week of combat training. Apart from the one octorok missile that had slammed him in the back, most of his discomfort came from the fact that he'd had to spend the night sleeping in the grass among a tangle of leaves, rocks, and tree roots. As hospitable as the kikwi had been, it was just about the worst night's sleep in his life.

He stretched. Checked his supplies – shield fixed up with the help of the old woman's potion, bag of slingshot seeds full, potion bottle two still full to the brim. With everything set, he pushed himself up and started towards the temple. "Alright. Let's go help Zelda."

Fi hovered beside him. "It would be very unwise to display overconfidence here. Within the walls of this place, no one will come to your aid."

A pause. Well that was a little ominous. "Do you think I'm not ready for this? Because I can't think of anything else that would help me more than I have, except more time." He gave a weak laugh. "And that's not exactly something we can afford."

Zelda… He didn't have any doubts about her ability to take care of herself, and the fact that she'd made it this far was even more to support that. Still, the thought of her alone in an enclosed space crawling with monsters…nowhere to run, really…the old woman's warning about the mysterious leader of the monsters echoing in his mind… It made his sword hand twitch. Not to mention that that reaction alone unsettled him deeply. He'd always been the peaceful one, protective yeah, but certainly nothing like Vayu's calculated manipulations or Zelda's "fight me" reactions.

Then again, no one's lives had been on the line like this before. Sure, no one would be coming to aid him, but _he_ would coming for Zelda. And that was the least he could do.

His gaze hardened and he clenched his hand around the grip of his sword. "Zelda is counting on me. Let's find her."

Fi inclined her head slightly. "Then let us continue, Master Link."

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Zelda kneeled at the edge of the platform closest to the Goddess statue. She had changed into the regalia the old woman had given her, after cleaning as much of the mud and leaves off herself as possible. The fact that she had also noticed a hole in one of the knees of her outfit made her just a little bit more smug about her insistence about the clothing thing.

Now though, in the open sunlight of the spring, she forced herself to step away from all that and concentrate on her instructions. The old woman had said that once she purified herself in the spring, she needed to open her mind and spirit to the messages the Goddess had left for her, so that she might understand her mission. Slowly, her mind fell into a meditative state, blocking out the sound of the waterfalls, the brush of wind and scrape of stone on her knees, every stray thought as it wandered into her mind…

She didn't know how long she stayed like that, but eventually something inside her welled up and she broke concentration. Her knees gave up supporting her weight as she sank down to curl her legs to one side. Hands ran across the soft material of the dress. Deep breathing. She tried again, from this position.

When still nothing happened, she grunted in frustration and kicked her legs out off the edge, splashing spring water out over the pool in arcs. Cupping her hands together, she scooped up some of the water and poured it over her head. "Work! Ugh." She fell back onto the stone. As she stared up at the sky (which was almost totally cloudless. Weird, given the fact that there was definitely a thick layer of clouds blocking access to and sight of the surface, now that she thought about it), she muttered to herself, "couldn't have made it a little more obvious? I don't think there's many people just wandering around here. If I was the Goddess, I would've set it up to recognize my emissary's magical signature." She propped herself up with her elbows behind her. "Wait, you can do that, right? I seem to remember that from _some_ book. Hmm…"

After a bit of deliberation, she sat back up. Swishing her legs through the water just enough to feel it move between her feet and the sandals, Zelda held her hands just above her legs, palms facing up but tilted slightly toward one another. _If it_ is _my magical signature Hylia wants, let's make sure she's getting enough of it then._ And she concentrated on feeding a bit of her energy into her hands. It was a simple exercise, one of the first practical lessons those wanting to learn magic were given.

The feeling brought back memories of when Vayu had shown it to her years ago. She'd been sitting with him in his room at the academy, probably complaining about classwork or something, when she'd mentioned that she was planning on trying an introductory magic course the next semester…

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"But what if it turns out I can't even _do_ magic and I embarrass myself in front of everyone?" she asked, legs propped up against the wall as she laid across his bed.

Vayu sighed. "You know there are ridiculously few people who can't do any at all."

"Yeah, but what if that's me?" she whined, one foot playing with the edge of a hanging tapestry.

The bed next to her dipped as he scooted over to sit directly next to her. His face appeared, upside-down, in her vision. "Then let's test it." A moment where he sat staring at her. "It does, uh, help to be sitting up for this."

Giving an exaggerated sigh, Zelda flopped her legs to the side so they landed on the bed and pushed herself into a seated position. "Alright, work your magic," she said as she reoriented to a better proximity to him.

"Very funny." He took her hands in his.

She flipped her head back as if to say 'I know, right?' "So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to show you something," he guided her arms so their hands were spaced about as far apart as their hips, held over the few inches of space that separated the two of them, "and you're going to copy it. Now, concentrate on the feeling in your hands, and tell me when you start to get anything different."

"Oookay" Squeezing her eyes shut, she focused on the warmness on the back of her hand, the slight pressure from the way he cupped her hands. Nothing seemed to be changing except a growing desire to swing their hands around or shake her leg, but then, as his thumb traced across her palm, there was the beginnings of a sensation like she'd been sitting on her arms for a time. "It feels…fuzzy? Oh! And warmer? I think?" She squinted, eyes still closed. "Is that right?"

A soft puff of air, accompanied by the suggestion of a vocalization. "It's not that kind of test. But yeah, you're picking up on it." He released his grip. "I was just channeling a little of my magic. It's the basis for starting any spell or-" Another laugh. "You can open your eyes."

The extra warmth that had been leaving her hands fled to her face. "Right. So, uh, you were saying?" She twirled her wrists.

"It's basically gathering your power so you can actively use it. That's what I want you to try." Vayu reached out. "It alright if I touch you to show something?" When she nodded, he tapped a spot a few inches below her collarbone. "Magic taps into your life force, the most basic parts of you, drawing out from the center to the rest of yourself." Running his hands across her collarbones, over her shoulders, and down her arms to catch her hands in his again, he continued, "you can feel it in the rhythms of your body, sometimes, but it's also something more."

Maneuvering her hands so they were clasped together, he squeezed before letting go. "Try cupping them like you're holding something, and concentrate on the space between them."

She did so, rocking her hands open and closed. After a few minutes, she thought she could almost feel a slight resistance as she pushed them together. Crouching more into herself, she tried keeping them open and maintaining the hold on that feeling. "I…think I have something? How am I supposed to know if it's working?"

"Can you make it like there's something filling that space?" He leaned forward. "Honestly, it is hard to tell until you get used to it."

"Yeah." She spread her fingers out, and it felt like there was suddenly an empty space where the extra room was, but not the rest of the area. "Yeah I think so." She spent another few minutes playing with the feeling before losing it a little. The more she struggled to get it back, the more it disappeared. "Oh." Looking up, she said, "I lost it."

Vayu watched her furrow her brows and begin to pout increasingly more as she went back to doing the exercise. "Hold on, no need to force it." When she glared at him, he sighed. "Alright, you know what, let me get something that should make this easier." Getting off the bed, he went to the dresser and returned with a small box.

"Aren't those the lights I got you from when the class went on that multi-island flight exercise?" She tilted her head.

"Exactly." He retrieved a single wire sphere covered in a soft fabric. "The crystal in the center is made to absorb magic and transfer it into light. Try it again holding that."

Giving a single, forceful nod, she sat back down. Hard as she tried, something about the material separating her hands seemed to block what she had felt before. After a minute's thought, she cupped her hands so the light could balance above them and waited until she could feel the connection before sliding the sphere into it like an egg into water for poaching.

Slowly, a light grew behind the fabric until it appeared like there was a small candle flickering inside.

"Vayu! Look Vayu I did it!" She practically flung the ball up in the air as she held her hands up for him to inspect. The brightness threatened to disappear for a moment, but reasserted itself as she steadied herself. "See? Magic!"

Vayu smiled so softly, eyes more than half closed, that it looked more as though he were about to cry.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, no. I'm just-" He ducked his head, laughing. "You know, you can actually be kind of adorable sometimes. A little."

"Hey!" She gave her best pout. She softened as her mind processed his tone. "Oh. Well, _yeah_. But I did good, right?"

"Yes, although you will need to work on your concentration." The light in her hands had completely gone out.

"Oh. I can do it again!"

He placed a hand over it. "I think that's enough for one try. Using magic is like any other thing you do – it takes energy, and you get better at it as you practice. I don't want you to overextend yourself." Biting his lip, he squinted at the sphere she was holding, then gently took it from her. "Here, close your eyes. I want to show you something."

Zelda complied. Time passed, and she got a little fidgety, but kept her eyes firmly shut and only once stuck her tongue out at him when he told her to keep waiting.

"Alright, now you can open them."

At first, it seemed like nothing had changed except for the lights being turned off. Then, slowly, pinpricks appeared in her vision, slowly growing to a collection of a half a dozen lights in as many different colors. "What…" she breathed, reaching out for the nearest one. Just before her fingers made contact, it floated out of reach.

As if that had been a signal, all of the lights began to hover around the room, some bobbing in place while others drew patterns or made a slow orbit. The objects they passed were briefly lit, then faded away again. One only drew her attention when it had already gotten up to the side of her. It zipped up to her face, bopped against her nose, and then skittered away before she could even react. Following its path, her gaze was finally drawn back to Vayu as it drifted onto his open palm.

"I- you- how are you-?"

He grinned, a light in his eyes that was probably just a reflection of the floating ones, but she couldn't have said completely for sure. "Magic." He shrugged, smile breaking out again. "More complicated but," Vayu tossed the one in his hands to her, "you practice enough, and maybe you can show me something like this, huh?"

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Zelda coaxed her magical energy to flow between her fingers, feeling it expand and contract with her breathing. As it pooled, she formed it into a ball in her hands, stretching them out to accommodate its growth. When her hands had gotten about a foot apart, something about her surroundings seemed to have shifted. She was still in the spring, nothing new or missing, but the taste in her mouth was too sharp, the water currents less pronounced as a nudge against her legs, the sunlight darker but also richer in color. A flash of- something – swept across her consciousness and she lost hold of the energy she had been holding. As she caught her breath, a force compelled her to look up at the Goddess statue as if someone had gently put a hand under her chin. A slow, gentle warmth spread through her as she met the statue's eyes.

 _From the edge of time, I guide you… Spirit Maiden, you have purified yourself in this spring, but a second is hidden away deep within the scorched earth of Eldin. With this blessing, you must travel there before you can begin to learn the full weight of your mission. The light of the Goddess will ease your steps…_

Blinking rapidly as the message in her head faded, she sat still as she processed what she had been told. The old woman had mentioned another spring, but now there was even more to come. Yay.

She picked herself up and went to her bag to change. All she had really wanted was to be a knight, protecting people in Skyloft, maybe even some of the other islands; go exploring the open expanses of the air; and come home and drag Link and Vayu into whatever mischief she could come up with this time. Sighing, Zelda paused halfway through pulling one of her boots on. She _missed_ her boys. The thought had occurred to her before that she should try to go back to the sky and get them, _both_ of them (Goddess and anyone else who objected be damned, find a different spirit maiden if you've got such a problem with it), to come along with her. Except the only hint she'd gotten at that even being possible was the goron's mention of some old stories, and even then, there was the issue of getting back down past the cloud barrier.

So it looked like she was going to be on her own. Which, really, was much more distressing for the two of them, who didn't have any idea where she was or what was happening to her.

 _Well, that just means I need to get this done as soon as possible so I can get back to them_. With this resolve, she was just about to touch the door she'd entered the spring through to make her way back out when a magical barrier dropped across the door with the force of a physical object. Even as she placed her hand on it to see what was going on, a wave of nausea rippled through her. Something was on the other side of the door, and it certainly didn't feel friendly.

As she stood there, a not-quite-voice tugged at her mind, the same tone as the message from the Goddess. Now that she thought about it, it was also remarkably similar to the pull she'd felt so many times in the last few weeks up in Skyloft. Groaning, Zelda turned until the force lessened its pull. "All right, fine. I get it. Bad monsters pursuing; got to find a different path." Slowly, she began to stomp off in that direction. "Well then, lead me out of here Hylia."


	3. Chapter 3

Vayu had been going through his books when the slow creak of the door interrupted his thoughts. He turned just in time to see Link practically fall through the doorway as soon as his weight had pushed it open enough to fit him through. Dropping what was in his hands, he raced over to catch him. " _Link_. What happened to you? No, wait. Shh. That was rhetorical," he said as he guided him to the nearest chair. "Sit, then talk."

Link visibly winced as he sat. Now that he was out of the gloom of the approaching night, several injuries were clearly evident. The midsection of his tunic was sliced open so the chainmail was clearly visible, and while there wasn't any blood there, he was holding himself in a way that suggested bruising. His arms and legs sported scratches and spots that looked like they were from something pointed or barbed, from something like an arrowhead, if he had to guess. But most concerning was the gash across most of the right side of his face and the amount of dried blood that had accumulated around it.

"Take off as much of your equipment as you can. I'll be right back." When he returned, he let out a breath upon seeing Link move slowly, but with enough coordination to tell him that he hadn't been too badly hurt. Crouching down, he brought a cloth up to Link's face to start patching him up.

"Zelda's okay…" he murmured in reaction to the touch.

Vayu paused. "You saw her?"

He started to shake his head, but stopped. Too dizzy. "No. But Fi sensed her aura, and I kept him from getting to her until she'd left." A tiny smile as he shakily removed his gloves.

"Him?"

"I…may have run into the guy who attacked Zelda in the first place. Seems like he's the one in charge of all the monsters and stuff. At least I hope he is. I'd hate to have to fight someone stronger than he is."

Putting on hand under Link's chin to tilt his head to check for any other injuries, he said, "Well, you beat _him_."

Link's shoulders slumped. "More like he let me live after he realized Zelda had disappeared from the area because it wasn't worth his time." He stared Vayu down. "Even during the fight he was just toying with me. I mean, I actually managed to hit him a few times, but he wasn't hurt by it at all."

"Oh," he said softly. Then, after a few minutes' silence, "here, let me get the chainmail off for you." When he'd slipped off all the layers and was able to see the bruises across his torso, Vayu took a breath and went into the motions of treating the rest of Link's injuries. As he did, he kept his gaze firmly on what he was doing.

The sense that he should say something, anything, to reassure Link loomed over him as time stretched on and Link began to recount what had happened on the surface. Even having started out with the knowledge that there was a potentially world-ending catastrophe brewing, the real gravity of it was only reaching him in the details of how vast the surface was, the mysterious old woman's instructions, the countless fights Link had endured, and the looming specter of the demon lord hunting after Zelda, still alone and now in a completely different region, from the sound of it. And Link was going to have to deal with that all on his own, and he was still managing to sound more composed than would have been expected. The least he could do would be to offer some kind of reassurance, some semblance of help, _something_.

But he kept silent, only offering the slightest of nods and responses to Link's story as he went on. The thing was, Vayu knew there wasn't anything he _could_ do that would make anything of a difference. Goddesses and demons and spirits and forces beyond his control, and assuming the Goddess was taking any active part in this, he'd be more likely to harm Zelda and Link than help should she take notice of him being around them at this point.

"…Vayu?" Link was staring down at him, eyes narrowed in concern.

He sighed. "Link, I don't think it's a good idea for you to be here. No, look." He held up a hand. "I want to help, but that's why I think it'd be better if you went to someone else for help. Practically everyone on the island knows about your mission by now – not everything, but that you're going to rescue Zelda – and they adore you both. You'll hardly be wanting for support."

"That's silly." Link crossed his arms, flinching when he hit a bruise. "There's no reason why you can't be part of this."

Vayu glared at him. "Yes, there is. This isn't like any of the other times; Hylia is directly involved with this, and with you, and according to her, I'm not even a whole person."

Ignoring his injuries, Link started to rise. " _Vayu_."

"I'm only stating a fact, and you know it," he said, voice just on the edge of becoming icy as he kept still. "This one time, it's not worth it for you to argue it."

"Yes it i-" Tripping over the tangle of all of his dropped items and Vayu at his feet, he collapsed onto the floor directly next to the chair. Shoulders set back, he pushed his way through everything around until he was directly next to Vayu. He grabbed his hands, pausing for a second at how different they felt against the sore not-yet-callouses on his own, and said, "Fi. Analyze."

Vayu stiffened as the sword spirit appeared next to them and turned her head toward him in particular, but Link kept his grip on him firm, rubbing the edge of his thumbs against his hands as she spoke.

"Subject: Vayu. He possesses a strong magical aura of unique character, although completely within the range of an average human. My analysis indicates that he is lacking in the bond to a loftwing typical of residents of the sky. This anomaly suggests caution, although my scans do not identify anything that would make him a direct threat."

"Thanks, Fi. That's all I needed." He looked back to him as she disappeared back into the sword. "See? Fi was made by Hylia, so if anyone would say something about you being an issue to be around, it's her."

"Well, I suppose. But I still got the impression she doesn't like me very much."

Link sighed. "She doesn't _like_ anyone. Emotions aren't really her thing." He squeezed Vayu's hands, shifting his weight so he was inches from his face. "There's nothing for you to worry about. If the Goddess really had a problem with you, she wouldn't have picked the two of us, out of all the people in Skyloft. And if she decides she does later," he pressed his forehead against Vayu's, "I'm sure I can convince her to like you. That's not difficult."

A puff of air brushed against Link's face. "I do have a way with people sometimes," he murmured. Then, he pulled his hands back, dragging Link's with him to press them against his chest. "Thank you."

"It was nothing." He tilted his head to kiss the side of Vayu's forehead. "Now you don't have anything to worry about."

"Except something happening to you or Zelda." He laughed.

Link froze. "Zelda! I should go. I still need to activate the column into the next area, and my shield needs repairs, and I think I'm out of potion, and-" As he spoke, he scrambled to collect his items back into his various bags and pouches, shoving things in wherever they'd fit.

"Link, it's dark out. You can't leave the island until morning."

"Oh." He deflated slightly. "Right. Is it alright if I stay here? I don't think I have the energy to deal with people questioning me yet."

"Of course." Vayu picked himself off the ground and started towards the kitchen area. "It'll give me time to fix your tunic anyway."

Link pulled the green cloth towards him. "You don't need to do that." Then, as he held it up and noticed the large hole in one side, "Okay, maybe you should. This is what I get for picking woodcarving as a hobby and not something practical. Although I guess Zelda isn't going to have much of a use for metalwork or run into anything mechanical either, huh?"

"Because your sword training has been completely impractical, right?" The sounds of various dishes and materials being moved around drifted over along with Vayu's voice. "Besides, most of the things I've learned are practical on purpose. Makes it harder for people to get rid of me."

"Mmm." Link gave up on trying to organize things and just pushed them all together into a single pile. He'd deal with that in the morning, once he got an actual decent sleep for once. "Oh yeah, that reminds me," he said as he walked to Vayu, "did you see Beedle's new shop?"

Vayu looked up from where he was wrestling with getting a pot out of a cupboard. "The flying one? He's going to get an earful from Zelda when she gets back; she wanted to get a look at it so badly."

Leaning into him as he started preparing food, Link traced his shoulderblades absentmindedly. "Yeah, gives him more time to figure out how to stop her from taking it apart." He laughed, then worked his head to fit against Vayu's shoulder. "You're sure she's going to be alright?" he whispered.

"She's made it this long, hasn't she?" came the soft reply. "Worrying won't help right now, and besides, she's perfectly sensible. Most of the time."

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If Zelda hadn't already been panting from the rough climb, her breath would have caught at the sight that awaited her as she reached the top of the cliff. A network of raised platforms of land crisscrossed the valley below, and flowing sluggishly between them was a strange red-brown substance that, as she made her way down to one of the edges, seemed to radiate heat.

 _Lava_ , a voice in her head supplied. She paused in the middle of her attempt at dropping a rock into it. Suddenly she recognized the substance, had a name and a vague idea of how it worked. Dropping the rock anyway, she observed as it did exactly what the information in her head suggested it would: sunk most of the way into the liquid before slowly breaking down before it was completely dissolved and engulfed.

Looking up at her surroundings, she noticed a huge mountain in the distance. It was hard to tell, but it appeared to be spilling out more of the lava. A _volcano_.

"Hylia?" she whispered. It was the only thing that made sense, that the Goddess was giving her information for her quest. Well, she certainly wasn't going to complain, although it might've helped not to have the method of transmission feel so weird, like she was remembering something out of context.

Zelda made her way down the pathways, sometimes having to double back when the platform ended before the lava flow. When she finally made it to an extended bridge, she paused in the archway on the other side. Back pressed against the stone surface, she glanced from one side to the other. Nothing was visible in the area, but then again it was just hitting her how weird it was that she hadn't encountered a single living being since setting foot in the region. Granted, her new knowledge was telling her life was less common in these types of environments, but not even monsters?

Besides, she was now getting the feeling that she was being followed. It was nothing more than that uncomfortable feeling one would get on the back of their neck that makes them feel like there are eyes on them, but given what had happened so far, Zelda was certainly willing to trust it.

It wasn't until she'd made her way up a steep, sandy incline and made it to what looked like a cluster of abandoned huts that she felt it again. A rustling noise behind her set her on edge immediately as she scanned the area for something she could use as a weapon.

Then, a red shape came out from behind one of the structures. The bokoblin fumbled in its pouch for something.

Zelda dove into a patch of grass. Snatching up the strange round plant that her mind had identified as a _bomb flower_ seconds before, she pitched it toward the bokoblin. It exploded just before the monster could act, reducing it to a puff of purple smoke.

Before she had the chance to celebrate, however, there was the sound of squabbling, and then a loud horn sounded from a spot above and to her left. Another bokoblin stood on a nearby tower, calling its allies to the spot.

Swearing under her breath, Zelda dashed back towards the cliff she had come up, only to notice a few red shapes congregating at the foot. As she turned to find a different route of escape, she was cut off by a dull impact that left her conscious just long enough to notice the group of monsters quickly surrounding her.

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Regaining consciousness did little to improve Zelda's situation, once she had been able to stir herself awake. It was dark, and the air was warm and thick, the smell of smoke and metal steeped into everything. Her head throbbed as she lifted it off the ground, dizzy from heat and probably dehydration. As she moved an arm to push the hair out of her face, there was a clanking sound, and her wrist smacked against a piece of hot metal.

"Ah!" She gasped as it touched a strip of exposed skin above her sleeve, sharp pain after a moment there, dropping her arm back and twisting it in an attempt to force the shackle back down to only be touching fabric again.

That accomplished, she took steadying breaths before opening her eyes again, trying to assess her situation as best she could without actually moving and risking further injury. Her current view afforded her only a glimpse of the ceiling, a rocky mass with a few stalactites a far way above her. Turning her head as far as she dared to either side, she could see an enormous set of red and gold doors decorated with images of strange twisted creatures ( _dragons_ , right, thanks Hylia) on one side, and the other, a long incline of brown stone floor reaching up beyond her field of view, a wall that probably only reached up to the waist as the only barrier between it and a pool of lava below. Curiously, though, no monsters appeared to be around.

"Very hospitable of them," she muttered under her breath. "Never would have thought I'm supposed to be an important prisoner. You know, emissary of the Goddess and all that." A scoff. Well, it wasn't as though she would have been in a position to challenge them anyway. Besides, if this gave her even a fraction more freedom to plan an escape, she would take it.

…How _was_ she going to escape, anyway? Physical means of restraint were pretty well-handled right now, what with the risk of burning herself if she so much as twitched in the wrong direction. Not to mention she didn't have the faintest idea where she was or whether there'd be a veritable hoard of monsters awaiting her as soon as she left the chamber she was in.

None of that changed the fact that she definitely _did_ need to get out, soon. The old woman's warnings of the demon leader coming after her hadn't exactly left her with any illusions of being able to resist should things get that dire, and even if they had, the memory of the magical signature she had felt in the other temple firmly extinguished them.

 _Now there's a thought…_ Even if physical means of escape were denied her, Zelda hadn't been practicing magic for the past few years without learning a few tricks that should be able to assist her here. She grinned and twisted around so her palms faced upwards. Gathering strength and pushing past the various pains from the earlier tussle, she felt for the pool of energy inside and turned it around, extending her magical senses to her surroundings.

The first thing that touched her awareness was snap of connecting back into that forward tug she had been following as a compass, more insistent than ever, to the point where she almost could have sworn she was being physically being pulled toward the incline just the tiniest amount. The other spring must be very close.

The other thing took longer to register with her, only cutting into her conscious awareness a few minutes later. She had already begun channeling energy into her hands, fingers getting just the slightest bit numb from the accumulation of ice magic, when a voice cut into her mind.

 _"Your Grace?"_ The sensation itself was much like the small bits of information or messages that she had already received, but some quality of it clearly suggested a different sender. This voice was stern, but with a hint of fear behind the urgency of the title being called out.

Zelda paused in her efforts. This _probably_ wasn't some form of trick, given the method of transmission, but then again it never hurt to be cautious. She had already switched the flow of magic from the ice to extending her mental awareness before she realized she wasn't exactly sure how to go about responding anyway. A frown, face screwed up in concentration. Perhaps, if she-

 _"Your Grace, are you alright?"_

 _"Yes? Well, no, considering. That's assuming you_ do _mean me, of course."_ The second inquiry had caught her so off-guard that she had simply made a reply in her mind, as she was wont to do, and it had come out echoed and… well, 'glowy' was the best way she could think of to describe it. Much the same as the messages, that was to say.

For what seemed the longest time after, there was no response, leaving her to wonder if she had been wrong in thinking it had worked, or that she actually wasn't who the voice had been looking for and was on her own again. Then, a sharp, _"Maintain this connection but do not attempt any other magic. I will join the two of you shortly."_

Two of you? Zelda rolled her legs around the floor as she thought. She'd never mentioned a companion, so what was giving the impression she wasn't alone? Another glance around the area as she waited. Perhaps there really was someone else here that she hadn't noticed. She hoped not, because first of all that would be super creepy, and secondly, it was super inconsiderate of them to be lurking in the shadows this whole time and never bother to help her out.

She didn't have to spend much longer contemplating that, however, as one of the doors began to glow just enough to be noticeable before creaking open. Through the opening stepped a tall woman, barely distinguishable in the gloom were it not for the accent of bright orange feathers at her waist against the dark colors of the rest of her outfit. She paused against the rock wall until the door slid back closed, then practically flowed towards Zelda, smoothly blending into shadow and patches of light then back again as easy as breathing. A flash of light from her hands, and the chains around her burst open. The woman paused a moment to allow her to prop herself into a sitting position, then immediately dropped to a knee, head bowed to the ground.

"My deepest apologies, Your Grace. I had sworn to accompany you to ensure you would not come to harm, and yet I have only arrived in time to prevent the worst from occurring."

As the woman spoke, Zelda felt her vision swim, the image of the woman in front of her appearing twice, almost overlapped but just enough not so to notice, although it was more the background that seemed to change than the person herself. There was the cavern floor, tiles barely visible beneath dirt and ash, but also the faintest sight of white stone, deep swirling carvings cut into the floor beneath the woman's feet. This second vision was much brighter, the kneeling figure lit from the front as if by bright sunlight, although a shade too close to white to be that.

Zelda stared at her just long enough that it was beginning to get awkward that she hadn't responded before shaking her head. The heat must really be getting to her. That, or she was getting weird feedback from using too much of her magic at once, except visually instead of the ringing in her ears she usually got. "No, it's alright. You are saving me right now. I mean, from what I was told at the beginning of this thing, I wasn't expecting to have anyone helping out, so this is a pretty pleasant surprise on its own." She laughed, but stopped mid-exhale as she noticed the woman tense and look up with a cold expression on her face.

"This is not- Where-" Her frown deepened, and she got back to her feet. "This is not the place." Extending a hand, she said, "Come. We must leave before the Demon Lord and his minions return to this place."

When Zelda stumbled to her feet, clearly still out of it from everything and taking forever to move at all, the woman sighed and scooped her up into her arms.

"Hey!"

"We must hurry," she said, making a few dozen quick steps up the incline before pausing. "Where…is your ceremonial garb?"

"Well, it was in my bag, and," she leaned her head over the woman's shoulder as best she could, "I think I saw it left next to me when I woke up earlier."

The woman turned to collect her bag and hurried back up the long path and through the door on the far end, which upon their approach, opened much like all the doors and traps in the previous temple had, simply melting away only to re-form once Zelda had passed through them. Still silent, she deposited Zelda on the floor and turned back to the door, placing her palms on it with a shower of sparks.

Seeing she was likely going to be occupied for a little doing whatever magic, Zelda decided to leave the woman to it in favor of exploring this new area. The air, although still a bit stuffy, was much cleaner without the constant coating of ash on the tongue. As she made careful steps down the hall, the white pillars, cool to her touch as she pressed against them for balance, gave way to an open space set up in much the same way as the previous spring, albeit darker from a lack of natural lighting available.

Lowering herself to the floor again, she eased off her boots before dipping her feet into the water. The moment they made contact, the skin of her wrist, as well as a section of her head began to itch. Bringing the arm up to inspect showed her a shiny patch of skin, raised and lighter than the surrounding area. Under her gaze, it simply faded away, leaving her without even the slightest mark to indicate that she'd been burnt not an hour ago. As she brought a hand up to her head, the dull ache from being struck earlier disappeared as well.

"Huh," she muttered, splashing up a bit of water onto another of the raised platforms. "Pretty useful. Thanks Hylia, I guess?" Briefly, she wondered if the healing properties would last if she tried carrying the water off with her, and was rooting through her bag for her waterskin when the woman approached her.

"Why are you alone?"

Zelda leaned backwards to look at her while she was talking, legs still lightly splashing through the water. "I got dropped down here by myself, and the woman who told me about my quest didn't say anything about a guide, so…" She fell silent under the other's cold gaze, which still had not changed from when she'd noticed that Zelda wasn't wearing her fancy dress.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she stepped to the side and into the spring so that she could speak facing Zelda. "And what of your champion? Surely you were made aware of the one blessed with the Goddess Sword, sworn to protect you on your mission?" She waved a hand to silence the protests she saw forming on Zelda's face. "No, I understand. I encountered the boy on my way here."

"Link! Is he alright?" Springing to her feet with enough force to drench the both of them with the splash, she grabbed the woman's arm.

"Hmph." She turned her head to the side, glaring off into the distance. "He appeared in well enough shape, although not enough it seems to carry out his task…" Finally relaxing from her rigid upright stance, she slid her arm out of Zelda's grasp and placed it on her shoulder. "Come. You must complete your meditations here so that we may continue with our mission. Other, trivial concerns may wait."

Worrying about the well-being of her one boyfriend was hardly what she would call _trivial_ , but given that this woman _had_ saved her life, Zelda was willing to trust in her report of Link being alright for now. It was more information than anything else she'd gotten since this whole thing had started, and she had faith in his abilities.

Silently, she washed the dirt and soot off as best she could, changing into her regalia once more before settling into the same motions she had completed in the other spring. This time came easier, slipping into the warm flow of magic and the hypnotic gaze of the Goddess Statue not long after she had properly channeled her own power.

 _From the edge of time, I guide you… Spirit Maiden, blessed with the dual power of my springs, your path now guides you to a fated place. The parched desert of Lanayru…there you will pass through the Gate of Time into a distant world. Only there will you regain the knowledge needed to banish the evil that still clings to this world._

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"That will not be necessary."

Zelda froze, the hand holding her sandals hovering over her bag with half a grip on them.

The woman made her way across the platforms, face impassive. With surprising gentleness, she prized the shoes from her hand, placing one down next to her. "What you have been chosen to be a part of is far larger than any mortal," she said, placing one hand behind the heel of Zelda's foot, propping it up so that she could slip the sandal back on. "And therefore, you must become more than any one person yourself. You must learn to put away your own concerns, which will only serve to distract you from your mission." She fastened the straps of the other sandal, the tiniest bit too tight. Looking up into Zelda's eyes, she took on another stern expression. "You may retain your human possessions, but this task requires a mind dedicated to the spirit, so kept away and not on your person they need remain. Am I understood?"

The impulse to protest died under the continued glare she was receiving, the absolute seriousness imparting more of a sense of gravity on her than any teacher had ever managed. Zelda closed her eyes and nodded. "Yes, I understand."

As they stood, the woman leading her back towards the main platform, she paused behind for a second to place a hand just below her collarbone. Pressing her palm against the shape underneath, she let out a sigh before dropping her arm to the side and hurrying back into step behind her guide.

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As the monster exploded into curls of purple smoke and another of those weird heart containers, Link collapsed to the ground, feeling the jarring impact in every bruised portion of his body, which was a lot of him, actually. Letting his sword rest beside him, he gasped in a lungful of air. Which he almost immediately coughed out in a fit from how much smoke there still was from the fiery creature, still trying to kill him from beyond the grave it seemed.

This temple hadn't exactly been easy. Not that Link had made it any simpler for himself, having rushed in and through it after hearing the mogmas outside the entrance discussing how they'd seen monsters carrying someone who matched Zelda's description inside. Only moments before this fight had he found out that she was fine, apparently spirited away from Ghirahim's clutches by some as yet unseen helper, so this was the closest thing to rest he'd had in… well, whatever amount of time had passed since he'd arrived in Eldin, it was hard to tell being in all these caves.

But with the slaying of that beast, his work here was almost done. All he needed to do now was head for the spring and collect whatever information and weird stone tablets this one decided to give him, and things would be fine.

Two steps past the door into the spring, and Link found himself frozen in place.

Standing at the top of the stairs was the person in dark clothing he had seen before, outside the temple. To her other side, standing just outside the circle of light that appeared to take up most of the floor, was Zelda.

She hesitated in her movement towards the circle, then broke into a smile and spun around to face him fully. "Link!" Making to practically bound down the stairs, she was stopped in her tracks when the woman threw an arm in front of her path.

"You cannot go to him, Your Grace. Remember what we discussed. Restrain yourself. Focus on the task at hand."

Zelda's eyes grew wide, and her hands clutched at the arm now around her waist that was pressing her back. Looking up to the woman with a pleading expression, she said, "He's supposed to be part of this mission too, isn't he? If Link's meant to protect me, I don't see how he could do that if he doesn't come with us." Hoo boy, she was breaking out the sad lip tremble that always broke her father.

She, however, remained unaffected. "His part in this is not meant to be quite so literal. Especially when one is forced to question his suitability." A glare shot in his direction before turning back to her. "You had told me you understood the need to separate yourself from your needs as a mortal. If you cannot even do this much, we have even more work ahead of us than I feared."

"I-I… That's not fair!" Zelda burst out, attempting one more escape from the iron grip. "I didn't exactly choose this, and Hylia's not that kind of Goddess, to require her followers to make these kind of sacrifices!"

"You are not an ordinary follower, and this mission is not to be taken so lightly," she practically growled. "We are leaving now, and I refuse to make this harder for us than it needs to be." With a grip just a bit stronger than it really needed, she guided Zelda forward and into the circle, where she disappeared with a burst of more light.

As the woman made to follow, Link rushed up the stairs, hoping for the chance to follow them and find out what, exactly, was going on. The moment he reached the top, she looked back at him with a ferocious glare that stopped him dead in his tracks.

"It took you far too long to get here. Looking at you, I fear the goddess is mistaken in her choice of agents. If this failure is any indication, you have no hope of defending Her Grace from those who seek to assail her."

Link only realized how tensed he was for a fight after his hand had already made it a third of the way to his bag, and forced it back. He narrowed his eyes at her, practically shaking as his mind raced to find a reply. " _Look_ ," he finally said, intending for it to come out in an angry growl but instead achieving something more akin to a half-sob. He wasn't even sure if she could hear him. "You think I'm not trying? That I wouldn't and aren't doing literally everything that I can to make sure Zelda stays safe?"

"And you think that matters? All the concern in the world is nothing against the forces which wish to tear this world asunder." She scowled at him. "Do my words anger you, boy? Do my words sting? Let them. If I had not come when I did, your Zelda would already have fallen into the hands of the enemy. The truth of it is you were late. You were late, and you failed to protect her." With a dismissive huff, she turned back away from him again.

Now he was definitely shaking, head lowered in defeat as he tried to avoid breaking down.

"I sent Zelda ahead to learn more of the fate in which she is destined to play a part. _Without_ the distractions it seems your presence is bound to provide." She stopped just outside the circle, still facing away from him. "Listen well, _chosen one_. If you wish to be of help to Her Grace, you must show the same dedication to the mission that I am _attempting_ to instill in her. Lose whatever mortal concerns are tethering you from a full commitment to this mission. Only when you've done this and conquered the trials set before you will you be of use to Zelda. No sooner. Am I understood?" Without actually waiting for a response, she stepped forward and disappeared into the light, which blazed brighter for a moment before disappearing completely, leaving Link alone in the spring.


	4. Chapter 4

No sooner had Impa stepped through the portal and arrived on the other side than she was confronted by an angry Zelda.

" _What_ was that about?"

She gave the girl a long, flat stare in the hopes that the passage of time would allow her to cool down and be more reasonable. Instead finding her keeping the same stubbornly insistent expression, she sighed. "I explained myself quite thoroughly several times. Perhaps it was simply my mistake in assuming you to be an intelligent enough lady to understand."

"You-" She bristled like an aggravated cat. "That's not what I-" Flapping the excess material of her dress as the hands clutching it shook back and forth, she huffed. "You made some of those things up, didn't you?" It's fine to be upset, but we're not children-"

"And yet _you_ certainly acted like one," she interrupted, reaching for Zelda's arm. "But if that is what I have to deal with, I've faced worse trials."

Right before she could be dragged off to Goddess knows where, Zelda yanked her arm back. "No." Giving a passable imitation of the glare she had previously been on the receiving end of, she took a few steps backward and plopped to the ground in a whirl of fabric and a cloud of sand. "I agreed to take up this role because I trust in the Goddess and I want to help. But I'm not going anywhere until we talk this out. We're not going to get anything done otherwise."

Impa frowned at her, the beginnings of a headache forming behind her eyes. "I have my reasons. But that's not what is important right now." With one swift motion, she scooped Zelda up and threw her over her shoulder. "And we do not have time to waste."

"Hey!" Zelda immediately began to struggle, flailing her arms and legs. She was still disoriented enough from the magical transportation (and she would need to figure out a way to learn that kind of spell, because boy did that have so many potential uses. Especially for a society that had to structure everything around whether their birds could transport items between islands.) that she couldn't do more than that. Her efforts only stopped when Impa jostled her roughly.

"There. Now, if you can behave, I will consider putting you-"

With a rough shove, Zelda pushed herself off Impa. She tumbled to the sand, but quickly rolled back up to face her in a fighting stance. "Is that an excuse, or will you actually talk with me later if I go with you?"

Throwing her hands up in frustration, she groaned. "Fine." At this point, she would agree to anything to get the girl to move.

"Alright then." She relaxed. "Let's go."

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There was a heavy, erratic knock at Vayu's door. He opened it to the sight of Link, hand raised for another round.

Link stumbled, seemingly thrown off whatever script he'd been running on. But when he caught himself he simply said, "Hey. Come walk with me?" and started off back where he'd come.

"Wait, Link!" The request hardly registered. His mind was far more caught up in the fact that his boyfriend was injured yet again, a couple of shiny fresh burns accompanying the cuts and bruises this time. As he reached out to grab his arm, the hand came away covered in ash. "What happened?" he asked softly. "You look like you slept in a fireplace."

Link stared in his direction but was clearly looking past him, fingers twitching. "Fire monsters." And then he was off again.

Alright, well that _technically_ answered his question. His nerves only heightened, though, as he trailed after on a path that was looking more and more like it was headed through town. With every day that Zelda stayed missing, rumors spread even further, and even those who had not been strictly informed of the connection between that and Link's absence had figured it out or heard some version of the truth. Following Link would call attention to him by proxy, but considering the state he was in, Vayu also couldn't just leave him. "Link," he hissed. "Could we at least choose a more discreet route?"

He blinked in confusion. Then he shook his head. "Right."

They turned off to skirt the borders of the island, continuing in near silence. Vayu was far too unnerved to talk, both by his own anxieties keeping him watching their surroundings, and by Link's demeanor. Sure, he wasn't a super talkative person, but considering the circumstances (plus the way he had showed up) this bordered on creepy.

He only broke the silence when they started to approach the Statue of the Goddess. "What are we doing here?"

"Need to put in the final tablet." Link continued walking up to the clearing before it.

"Final… I thought you said there were only two springs!" His voice raised to a shout at the end as he clung to the stone doorway, unwilling to cross inside for now.

When Vayu didn't respond to what he said, Link turned to see where he'd stopped. Sighing, he walked back and took his hand, leading him toward the statue. As they went, he explained what the message from the Goddess had said about the events to come.

"More work for the both of you." He hung his head as Link slotted the last tablet into place. "Zelda's alright at least?"

There was an uncomfortably long stretch where Link stared the wall down hard enough that his gaze should have left marks. "I…couldn't protect her."

" _What_?" When the only response Vayu received was for Link to tilt his head upward, he clutched at the nearest handhold. Breaths coming fast and shallow, his mind refused to even function over the pain of his gut twisting. His limbs wouldn't respond, and he was left staring until he finally reached out enough to grasp Link's tunic before collapsing under his own weight. "Link…what happened? Is she- wha-"

Seeming to notice what was going on for the first time, Link kneeled down and put a hand on each of Vayu's shoulders. "No, she…she's fine. But…" And in hushed tones mostly drained of emotion, he told him what had happened with Zelda's capture and the encounter with her rescuer.

Vayu brushed a hand through Link's bangs. He still shook a little as he did so, but by now he had mostly calmed. "She's safe, though. That's all that matters." Standing up, he pulled Link up with him. "Let's head back."

Link shook his head. Sliding out of Vayu's grasp, he headed out of the chamber. "I still have to restock before I go."

" _Go_?" A slightly hysterical laugh escaped his throat. "Not in that state. Wait at least until tomorrow."

Shaking his head, he began stomping across the bridge toward the school. "Zelda's waiting for me. I can't let her down again."

Realizing that he wasn't kidding, Vayu sprinted after him. "Link!" He grabbed onto him, pulling until he looked at him. "It's nearly sunset. You shouldn't really be flying at this point."

"Which is why I have to hurry."

A heavy sigh. "She has someone looking after her now, yes? That should mean you have less reason to worry now than you did before." When Link took another step, he tightened his grip. Much as he wanted to avoid getting confrontational, he couldn't afford to let him get even further into a state where he would get hurt. He only hoped it wouldn't get to the point where he'd have to drag Link back to his house. "You can't keep pushing yourself like this." As Link seemed to relax, Vayu softened. "You're no use to her or anyone dead."

The next second, Link ripped away from him in the moment of his lowering his guard. "Yeah, well, at least one of us should actually be doing something useful to help her!"

" _Link_!"

He turned to the side and dashed over to the edge. When Vayu stepped between him and the platform nearby, Link simply shook his head and jumped where he was, leaving Vayu to skidder to a halt hanging halfway out into the air. He let himself drop further than he usually would before calling his Loftwing. Ignoring the shouts calling out for him, he flew as fast as he could in the direction of the yellow pillar of light.

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Zelda sat on top of the lip of the bottom platform of the old cage structure, leaning to the side to keep herself in its minimal shade and the sun out of her eyes. They had passed the hottest part of the day (the helpful little voice of the Goddess informed her) while the two of them had navigated the system of caves close to where they had entered. Upon their entry into the more open desert, Impa had dropped her here with the supplies and told her to wait and stay out of sight while she scouted the area.

And for now, Zelda was doing exactly that. It wasn't as though she distrusted the other woman (in fact, there was a nagging familiarity, as though she'd met her before), so she had no reason to want to go against the request. Besides, it was far too _hot_ to think about moving more than she had to.

So instead, she rested. And tried to shake the sand out of her sandals.

After a bit, the sun had shifted just enough to make her current position uncomfortably bright. She got up to move when she noticed something inside one of the cages. When she'd first gotten to this area, she would have (and indeed, had done so with others at the time) dismissed it as a pile of rocks. Considering what she'd encountered since then…

There was a spot where one of the bars had rusted with age enough for her to reach in and extract the broken-down pieces of robot inside. "You poor thing," she murmured.

When they'd first activated a Timeshift Stone to get through an area, Zelda had been absolutely delighted by the little robots even as they remained indifferent to or even unappreciative of the humans' presence disturbing their work. It was unlike anything she'd ever heard of before – complex machinery packed inside a tiny body of something capable of independent thought just like a living being. Which had only made it more devastating to learn that events in the past had led to them being rendered inoperable by the present day. Their living forms were stuck in the past, much like the rest of this land.

Speaking of. Zelda blinked and shook her head as an image of the area before her, rebuilt mechanical structures among greenery, flashed into her vision. She really needed a proper rest soon.

Gently, she brushed dirt and sand and flakes of rust from the robot's body. Initially her thought had been simply that the poor creature deserved better than to lie alone, dusty and forgotten, but then her efforts uncovered what looked like a way of opening it to get at the mechanisms inside and well, she couldn't resist that invitation to take a peek. Her attempts to pry the thing open were hindered by the fact that she didn't exactly have any tools on hand. But then she remembered the flowers she'd idly picked a few of earlier until her hands had started to come away greasy. And if the robot wasn't functional already, it could hardly hurt to use. Besides, as soon as she'd thought about them, something about the flowers had tingled at the back of her mind. That intuition, combined with the bits of knowledge she'd picked up from hanging around Gondo's shop and pestering him about his work, guided her as she disassembled and cleaned and adjusted a bit _here_ and hopped around the immediate area to pick up stray parts she'd noticed that might work as a replacement for _this_ bit, and before she knew it she had a working robot in front of her.

The panels on the spots where what would be considered its eyes were lit up, a light whirring hum starting. Electricity crackled between the main body and the hands, and the robot lifted itself up. It beeped in a way that suggested surprise, then curiosity as it turned a full circle to examine its environment. "Are you the one that saved me? I thought for sure those monsters were going to drain the electricity out of me, bzzrt! But instead it seems…" It looked out on the expanse of sand to one side of them.

Yeah. Zelda didn't understand what had happened either. Unlike the other areas, her mind had seemed puzzled at seeing desert, more comfortable and willing to impart information from Hylia when she stepped into the past. Weird, considering that she would think the Goddess would have information for her charge on the current state of the areas she was sending her to. But, Zelda supposed there was some reasoning to it that she as a mere mortal was not privy to. For now, she gave her best explanation of what Impa had told her about the place to the robot.

"That seems…reasonable, vrrm. In any case, I suppose I'm glad I didn't meet the same end as the others." The end of its chirping trailed off sadly, though. "How can I repay you?"

Zelda frowned thoughtfully. "Well- …what's your name?"

"I am part of the LD-301 Series. However, I was not assigned a name, zrrt."

"We'll work on that. But…" she grinned, "do you think you could bring me more robots?"

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Upon her return, Impa narrowed her eyes at the sight before her, arms crossing over her chest.

Zelda sat in the base of the former cage, a broken robot in her lap. Around her, two functional robots carried parts and other robots around, while a third appeared to be assisting her. For everything else, she at least had the decency to look contrite.

"What is this?"

She perked up a little. "Well, they don't actually have names. But I was thinking about calling this one-"

Impa sighed. "I meant to ask: what are you doing?"

A tiny noise escaped her throat, and she bowed her head. Her voice was barely audible. "I know. What you said, about focusing on the big picture. But…this wasn't taking away from my mission, and it isn't like it's hurting anyone, right?"

She _had_ a point. That didn't mean Impa necessarily had to like it. The _real_ problem here was in the extra attention the robots would likely draw. Especially considering the fact that they appeared determined to accompany her, if the way they circled around her feet as she made her way over to her was any indication. Seemed like some things never change, even if Her Grace wasn't aware of it yet. "We are not taking them with us."

Zelda pouted for a moment, then gave in. "All right."

Impa brightened internally. Perhaps she _could_ be sensible. At times.

Leaning over with her hands on her knees, she addressed the robots. "You should know how to fix yourselves…" And then paused as if she hadn't known that fact until the words were out of her mouth. (Which was good, Impa mused, because it meant the rituals so far were working. On the other hand, that meant she'd need to keep a stricter eye on Her Grace to make sure she didn't hurt herself from remembering things too quickly, or at an inopportune moment.) She recovered after a few seconds. "Take the other flowers that I have left, and take care of yourselves, okay?"

There was a chorus of happy beeps and chirps.

Alright, that was kind of adorable, seeing them look up to her like that, and her easy smile like she was proud of them. Impa cleared her throat. "We need to go before any monsters have time to notice our whereabouts. If we hurry, we can make it to our destination by nightfall."

She nodded in agreement, giving her dress one last dusting (that unfortunately managed to get some of the flower oil on the fabric). But then, Zelda hung back until Impa had just stepped out of earshot. Quickly, she squatted down to the robots' level. "There's just one more thing I want you to do…"

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The first thing Link did upon entering Lanayru province was notice how _cold_ it was. Well, the actual first thing he did was trip his landing over a rock he hadn't noticed because of how dark it was getting, fail to regain his balance because his head decided to start swimming, and fall to the sand. Really cold sand.

"Fi," he grumbled as he got to his feet, "I thought you said deserts were hot."

"That is correct. However, due to the dryness of the air, the heat from the day is not trapped as much as in other climates, and without the sun, the temperature will drop." She watched impassively as he climbed down the ladder of the structure he'd landed on. But as he stumbled toward the pathway before them, she floated in front of him. "Master Link. Considering the lack of light and your current physical state, I predict a 30% chance of your survival should you continue. I recommend resting until the morning."

Oh, come on, they didn't have time for that. _Zelda_ didn't have time for that. He tried to stare the spirit down, but that was really hard to do with someone who didn't show emotion and besides that seemed incapable of blinking. And, the longer he tried, the more he thought about the accuracy of her calculations so far, and the more his body started to ache. So instead, he gave in and laid out his sleeping bag on the least sand-covered bit of stone he could find. "Wake me up at sunrise." Given that night had only recently fallen, that should give him plenty of time to recuperate from the boss fight earlier that day and the dungeon rush of that and the day before.

So of course, this ended up being one of the few times in his life so far when _he_ had trouble falling asleep. He'd been able to ignore thinking about it before thanks to a combination of adrenaline and the sheer energy and focus needed to get through all the battles and puzzles, but now that he'd stopped moving for the first time and had nothing to distract him from his thoughts, Link was finally hit by the full realization of how close he'd come to failing in his mission. How, at the entrance to the Earth Temple and every subsequent moment after that, he'd expected every open door or turn of the passage to reveal that he'd finally lost Zelda. And the fact that he hadn't had been on no part due to his own actions.

Shaking for reasons beyond the chill, he yanked the fabric of the bag over his head and curled up.

When sleep finally did catch him, it was restless. Snatches of visions reminiscent of the half-remembered dreams he'd had before this all had started, Zelda's screams in his ears while his body felt like it was still in the midst of battle, and the memories of the spring. _Your failure. The Goddess is mistaken. Mortal concerns. You were_ _ **late**_ _, and you_ _ **failed**_ _to protect her._

It was still dark when his eyes opened, body refusing to respond for the first few seconds. Once he'd regained his bearings, Link looked up at the sword spirit hovering over him. "Fi?"

She tilted her head towards him with the silvery whisper that accompanied her movement, but made no other sound.

"Do you believe I'm really the right person for this?"

"I do not understand the question. My calculations are made with 98.3% accuracy, and given the instructions for choosing my wielder were programmed into me by the Goddess herself, it is without a doubt that you are the one she intended to carry out her mission."

Well, that was probably the most encouragement he was going to get from her. From her, cold calculations meant more than an opinion, anyway, and he had no reason to distrust her reasoning. Therefore, the only fault that could be made was with the Goddess herself. Something about that thought made him look over his shoulder, despite the fact that he _knew_ he was alone. Most everyone believed (and was taught by her sages, strictly) that Hylia was without flaw. Which made enough sense to him, considering, y'know, _Goddess_. Then again, recalling Zelda and Vayu's rambling theological discussions that he'd only half-followed at most, not everyone agreed with that interpretation. And then there was the woman who had been with Zelda. 'I fear the Goddess is mistaken' _kinda_ carried the implication that one believed the Goddess could make mistakes, and considering that the statement had come from someone highly connected to Hylia…

He pulled his hat over his face. Ugh. This was all way too far above his head and personal interests to be anything more than confusing. Go back to sleep.

The morning had enough good grace to come without any further events. But with the interrupted sleep, uncomfortable environment, and injuries still harassing him, Link was still more groggy than when he'd had extra early classes. Fishing through his bag, he found that he still had a potion and a half left, somehow. Deciding that he'd be less likely to injure himself more later if he felt better now, he drank the half before setting off. As he went, managing to get through passably well, the movement (as well as the one time he shocked himself on an electric chu) woke him up so that by the time he stumbled out into the full sun outside the caves, he felt actually okay about how things were going.

Which really only made it all the more confusing when he came upon a sight that he would've thought suggested he might be dreaming. Or at least tired-delirious. He took a drink from his water pouch. Nope, not that either.

"Fi… I thought you said the robots all fell into disrepair ages ago?"

"That is what my records indicate, yes."

And yet, once he'd climbed over a few rocky outcroppings, Link had found nearly a dozen robots buzzing around the area. He didn't have much time to wonder, though, as one of them soon noticed him.

Instead of dismissing his presence like the ones in the past had, this one made its way straight for him, a couple others gathering in its wake. "You are the one designated 'Link'?"

He looked over to Fi, and then slowly back at the robots. "Yes?"

Despite the fact that they didn't really have facial expressions to change, the collected group all managed to look excited. "We have messages for you, zrrt!" And then they swarmed around him until he sat down, before proceeding to speak again. "Our mechanic, designation 'Zelda,' aske-"

"Zelda!? How is she?" Link nearly flew forward, this close to grabbing the robot who had spoken.

Another one chimed in. "Her status was fully operational before she departed."

Ok, so translated: she was doing fine. He breathed a sigh. Even with knowing she had a bodyguard with her now, he had still worried about her.

"She does not blame you, for some event unknown to us." A third added.

Doesn't…oh. With how much of it Zelda had witnessed of Link being scolded as responsible for her getting kidnapped, now that he thought about it, she _would_ be concerned about him feeling bad about it. And…it did help, knowing that she wasn't upset with him. Didn't change the fact that he could have done better, that it _had_ happened, but. Small mercies.

"And says to take care of yourself, vrrrm."

His hand went to guiltily rub at one of his still-healing wounds. Of course. Honestly, he wouldn't have been entirely surprised if she predicted what he was doing now, and the thought of her stubborn glare was almost enough to make him consider slowing down. Almost. Besides, he wasn't about be _so_ risky that he would be in any more danger than he'd already been, so, technically he was fine.

He noticed the assemblage watching him space out with surprisingly intent gazes, and that as soon as his attention focused, the first retrieved something from a new robot that had just arrived. "And she has a request for you." It shuffled over and placed a plant into his outstretched hands.

"Oh, one of those ancient flowers."

"She wants, if you can, to research them and see if there is a way to grow them again."

 _Okay_ … "Is there something special about them?"

"The oil from these is what allows us to maintain our machinery to keep in working order, bzzt. It is how she restored us in the first place!"

Oh yeah. They had called her a mechanic or something earlier. Explained that. Link shook his head fondly. Typical Zelda. Even on a dangerous world-saving journey, she still couldn't help but stop to poke around at things.

One of the robots made a soft whirring noise. "There was a mention of one designated Professor Owlan…"

Right. This kind of stuff was his specialty, made more sense to hand it over to him than having Link fall asleep on a book trying to do research. He smiled. It was a little reminiscent of the times she'd come up with some scheme to sneak out of school or prank some annoying villager, especially when they were younger.

"…or a 'Vayu'."

Link froze up, eyes going wide. He should have expected that; of _course_ she would think to mention him.

The robots, oblivious to his reaction, continued. "The latter was also part of her last message. She said to try not to let him get too worried. And that she loves both of you."

Link barely managed to stutter out a thanks before he stood abruptly and marched off towards the Temple, doing everything he possibly could to ignore the pit that was forming in his stomach.

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Vayu was, to put it mildly, kind of freaking out a little. He'd barely had enough processing time to commit to memory what had happened to Link in the past few days, let alone try to process any of it. And on its immediate heels had been Link's insistence on leaving again despite his injuries, and _Vayu hadn't stopped him_. Sure, he could say he'd tried and maybe, yeah, he had a little. But he knew it wasn't nearly enough because there was no way he couldn't have managed it if he'd just tried harder.

Now, there was absolutely nothing he could do. The question of whether or not Link and Zelda would succeed was completely out of his hands.

He stumbled as he got to his feet, a small gust being the only thing that prevented him from going over the edge. Taking the lower passages, he made his way back home in a daze. What was he even supposed to do now? At least before he had the ability to prepare to help whenever Link came back and now for all he knew Link wasn't going to come back until it was all over and who knew how long _that_ would take and in the meantime who knew what could happen to him and Vayu wouldn't know-

Oh, _Hylia_. He hadn't known that something had almost happened to Zelda until being told after the fact. And he wouldn't know if something actually happened to either or both of them until…

Until what? There wasn't anyone else reporting on things, and even if Link did come back from the surface he would probably ignore Vayu (stubbornness wasn't Link's strongest suit; he would want to avoid being convinced to take a break), and _even_ if Vayu got someone else to let him know if they'd seen Link, he had no idea of how long to expect him to be. Which meant he could wait for days, weeks even, without a word, not knowing if it had been too long, too late for normal, never sure if things actually took that long or if someone had already died and oh Goddess he was going to be sick.

Vayu crumpled right there on the pathway, shaking like a leaf. Link had been right, hadn't he. Despite all his pretensions of making himself of use to Link, Vayu hadn't done anything to actually, concretely bring Zelda home safely. All of this going on around him, and the way things were now, there was _nothing_ he could do about it. Despite being in a spot open to the air, he could hardly breathe. When was the last time he'd felt so helpless? (Wait, no, he knew the answer to that, and it's not something he wanted to dwell on, especially now.)

It's hard to be religious when you're convinced the Goddess has abandoned you, or hates you for no reason (or worse, that there is a reason, something you've done wrong without realizing or even that there's just something _fundamentally wrong_ with you). And maybe all of _this_ was some punishment for getting involved with the chosen ones, Hylia's way of removing his influence; he didn't know. But there, in that spot and that time, Vayu prayed to her anyway. Come what may, however and whatever she might choose to inflict on him, he would _accept_ , as long as she would protect Link and Zelda.

Until he figured something else out, it was all he could do.

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Link sat beside the steps to the newly-raised entrance to the Lanayru Mines. One hand supported his head while the other dug through his bag to retrieve his last potion bottle. He stared at it in the way of someone who can see and knows what the sight they're looking at means perfectly fine, but would _really_ like to believe they're wrong and if they think at it hard enough reality will shift to their benefit.

"Master Link. You have run out of healing potion. In order to ensure your survival, I recommend resupplying before entering the mines."

He gave Fi a long, tired stare. She was right, of course, but that meant going back up to the sky. And while he could get supplies from one of the other island communities, they were all significantly further from the opening in the cloud layer than Skyloft, meaning it would be even longer away from his mission. Skyloft, though…

A heavy pang of the same guilt that had been coursing through him the entire trip to the Temple and back to the mines. Vayu had to be worried sick by this point, but if Link saw him again he was pretty confident he wouldn't be able to leave right away again. Especially with Zelda's request weighing him down twofold now.

But he couldn't afford to waste time when Zelda's life was on the line, when the fate of the world depended on his keeping moving with the mission, that he succeed before the demon lord's forces could do anything.

"Master. Based on your previous encounters with structures of this kind, I can calculate a 5% chance of survival if you enter this place equipped as you currently are." In the first time ever, he swore he could hear something that almost amounted to emotion in her voice.

Looking back at her from where he'd started up the steps, he said, "How do I know you're not lying to me?"

She tilted her head. "I am not programmed to be capable of such. Besides, I would not suggest a course of action that is not the most efficiently beneficial to our mission."

… _Fine_. But he wasn't going to like it.

Link was up and flying toward Skyloft in minutes. He could practically feel his heartbeat in his throat, but that didn't stop him as he dove off his Loftwing just too close to the bazaar than one was supposed to. Scooping potions and dropping rupees on the table without even a breath in between, he immediately spun around and did the same with slingshot pellets and another shield at the Gear Shop.

The sound of his name pricked at his ears. Without turning (because that would be an invitation), he made his way out at a pace that he hoped was fast enough to convey that he was clearly in a hurry, but not so much that it would look like the running away that it was. Whatever the effect on the other person, on his end he succeeded in making it to and off the nearest landing platform without further incident.

As he flew off, he indulged in a route that swept around the island. He sighed. The next time he'd be seeing his home, it would be returning from a successful mission, Zelda in tow. And _then_ he'd accept whatever ire he'd get from her, from Vayu for his choices. That was fine. Because by that point she'd be _safe_. They all would be. And for now, that was all that mattered.

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It really was kind of impressive how much better the Temple of Time had stood up against the desert than the rest of the structures they'd encountered. The white stone structures were only slightly weathered, despite being open to the elements, and even the bridge they crossed appeared perfectly stable and intact. The real objects of interest, though, were in front of Zelda.

She craned her neck to look up at the enormous stone symbol behind the Temple that she'd first sighted hours ago. It was vaguely reminiscent of the Goddess Crest, but not quite the same. Looking over to Impa, she crossed her arms. "What's that extra bit to the symbol?" She squinted, a thought just below the murky surface of her mind. "Oh! It looks like-" And then she was hit by a splitting pain and a bright light inside her skull.

The next thing she knew, she was on the ground, head propped up against Impa's leg. As she attempted to sit up, she noticed that the entrance had crumbled so that a pile of rubble now blocked any way in or out. "What was- How-?"

Impa looked the most pleased she had since Zelda met her. "You did that. Your true powers as Spirit Maiden are staring to awaken. And soon, you will understand your true role in what is to come." She smiled softly. "But for now, Your Grace, rest. You will need the energy for your next task."

Zelda's dreams were strange, confusing in a way dreams normally weren't. It was mostly bright light, flashes of sound like a battle and the sensation of a hundred spells at once, overwhelming magic. But _none_ of it made sense, even in the moment, and yet she was overcome by an absolute surety that it was supposed to.

Soon after she awoke, Impa brought her before the raised circular platform surrounded by statues.

"This is the spot where the Gate of Time is housed. Once activated, it will create a portal that will transport us to the far past. It is once we pass through that you will finally understand the role that fate has shaped you for since your birth."

Zelda frowned. "That kind of magic exists? Why do we even need to go back in time anyway?"

"This Gate was created by the Goddess herself." The look on her face was one of an 'of course' added on to the end of the sentence. Zelda decided it wasn't worth it to get into a theological debate, especially right now, with a direct agent of Hylia. "Being there will allow us a reprieve from the forces chasing us, as well as the necessary setting for you to complete your awakening."

She gave her guard a sideways glance, a small grin forming. "Time enough also for us to have that talk you agreed to?"

Impa gave her a flat look. "I suppose it would not do to renege on my promises."

Zelda beamed. "And…is Link coming with us?" she asked hopefully.

"No." A warning glance to stop her from opening her mouth before she continued. "Before you ask, it has nothing to do with any opinion I may have of the champion. He merely has a task that will require his presence in the present."

"Do I get to know what it is?"

"Not yet. Unless you want your head to explode." Her tone was so serious that Zelda simply stared at her with wide eyes until she reached into the bag and pulled out the carefully wrapped harp inside. "You will need this to complete the ritual for summoning the Gate. Now, here's how we begin…

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Link emerged from the hatch leading out of the mining facility, blinking in the sudden reintroduction to the harsh desert sun of midday. Although his sight had yet to help him with his bearings, his hearing caught notice of a faint tune, accompanied by a _very_ familiar voice.

 _Zelda!_ And then, seconds later, he saw her just in time for her to notice him and turn. Gasping, she made a few steps toward the bridge that separated them.

So it was at that very moment that the blocked entrance crumbled inward. On the heels of the ringing explosion there came smug laughter. Through the cloud of smoke, Ghirahim leaped forward and onto the bridge. Immediately, he sprung towards Zelda.

Link had to screech to a halt as a barrier of energy flew up in front of him, cutting off his path. He could only watch as the Demon Lord began to cut away at Impa's shield.

"Your Grace! Quickly, to the gate!"

Zelda turned around to do exactly that when she was struck with another bit of divine guidance. Her spin went another ninety degrees, and she stopped running once she was parallel to Link. "Link, here! You'll need this where you're going." The act of speaking made her shudder. It was her mouth moving and her voice saying those words, and she had wanted to say them, but it was as though someone else were controlling her in performing the actual act. But, she shook it off quickly. With a little concentration, she channeled one of the first spells she'd learned on the harp in her hands, levitating it up and over the pit into Link's hands. In her nervousness, it practically zoomed over, faster than she intended.

He caught it perfectly all the same, far too used to this kind of thing (nine times out of ten, Vayu would hand people things without ever touching them, sometimes not even bothering to look. And Zelda had used the ability many many times for the both of them to 'practice their knight skills', which only _usually_ got them in trouble. One time she'd stuck him with a very unfair game of keep-away with a 'ball' made of scraps of fabric and stuffed with potato peels. It had ended with them dropping it to burst open on Eagus's head when he startled them, and quite a bit of detention).

It was just after that when Link noticed that the barrier had lowered. With a nod to Zelda to get going, he leaped at Ghirahim at the very moment he shattered Impa's shield. Planting himself firmly in front of her, shield out, he took a glance over his shoulder.

Impa pushed herself up. "Link…"

"Go! Protect Zelda!"

She nodded, perhaps the faintest hint of warmth. "I will. You have my thanks." Backing up towards the glowing blue structure in the shape of a gear, she added. "I will leave _him_ to you."

Grabbing onto Impa's arm as soon as she reached her, Zelda watched Link face the intruder she could feel with a surety that went to her bones was the leader of the monsters, even though she had never seen him before. Although…even something about that sparkled in the back of her mind. Again, she felt something inside her and yet not herself take control for a split second. Her arm shot out and a pulse of magic streamed through her, and she watched Link flinch as the energy closed up several of his wounds. She looked down at her hands. Healing magic was fairly rare, and she was pretty sure she'd remember learning something like that. Huh.

Holding a sphere of energy (which Zelda, in the back of her mind, sensed as being some kind of destructive force), Impa pushed her back further into the gate. "Link! You must go now. Return to the old woman at the Sealed Grounds. Tell her what happened here. She will know where you must go! And know that we will-"

Only enough of what was being said registered to realize that this was going to be another separation, but that was plenty to shake her back into action. Zelda pushed over Impa's outstretched arm. With the bits and pieces of what lay ahead for both of them that she _had_ been told during the process of opening the gate, she couldn't not say something to reassure him in what would be their last time seeing each other in quite a while. "I'll see you again! Once this is all over, I'll come back to you guys! I promise!" And with that, the two of them stepped all the way into the gate, which immediately closed behind them.

The sphere of energy dropped, exploding and cracking the gate to rubble.

"Now you've done it, Link." Ghirahim scowled, throwing one arm out to the side in a dramatic fashion. "I blame myself. I should have reprimanded you the last time we met, but instead I was…soft." Brandishing his sword, he continued to gesture wildly as he talked. "I'd take pleasure in punishing you, but I have no time for recreation. But next time, I'll do more than just beat you senseless. I'll make the affair so excruciating, you'll deafen yourself with the shrill sound of your own screams." With a final arc of his blade, he disappeared in a flash of orange diamonds.

The threat seemingly gone, the gear in his hands felt heavy. He turned to the ruined gate.

"A report, Master. I can no longer detect Zelda's aura. The moment the gate was destroyed, Zelda's presence disappeared from my readings." Fi paused for a beat. Then, "Zelda's companion instructed you to meet with the ancient one in the Sealed Grounds. This corresponds with the records in my memory. I propose that we travel to the Sealed Temple."

Link looked from the former gate to the sword spirit, to the giant symbol that had loomed over him most of his aboveground desert journey. And then between all of each several more times. He spat out a word he'd only ever heard Vayu mutter under his breath when he thought Link was asleep, and on one memorable occasion, Professor Horwell during class when he broke something. Shoulders tensed, he marched over to the nearby bird statue.

This was far from being over, it seemed.


	5. Chapter 5

Link paused, a hand on the bird statue in front of him. Until just now, he'd intended to fly up and directly over to the Sealed Grounds. But in the time it took to get here, his mind had been working in the background of his tired haze and had come up with a thought. Zelda was now somewhere else entirely, so much that even Fi or the Demon Lord couldn't seem to track her anymore. So…that should mean she was safe from the monsters, right? Maybe he could actually afford to go less than full throttle through everything.

But then again, he didn't _know_ that for sure. His appearance at the Temple had been barely in time to save Zelda and her guardian (which, the small part of him that was capable of smugness reminded him, meant that his pushing to keep going had been the correct decision). With the information he had right now, the possibility that time was of the essence was still very present.

No, his first instinct was right. Head to the Sealed Grounds for now, and depending on what the old woman had to say, he could figure out how much leeway he could really give himself.

So, Link made his way up and over to the green pillar of light. Everything was going smooth until the moment after he jumped off his Loftwing, when he heard a yell from above him.

Looking up, he saw Groose diving after him, screaming his lungs out. He grabbed onto Link's ankles as he sped toward him, throwing Link off-balance so that the two of them thudded to the ground, the weight too much for Link's sailcloth to fully cushion by the time he got it out.

"…Ugh, rough landing." Groose rubbed at his side. "I think I mighta broke something. Hey, Link, seriously… Didn't anyone ever teach you how to land without crash—?"

Oh, yeah, because it was totally _his_ fault that happened. Not because _someone_ decided to mess things up and didn't use their own parachute. Of course. He rolled his eyes, only noticing after he'd gotten up and started to dust himself off and check that nothing of his had broken that Groose was staring at the scenery.

"WHOA!" Eyes and mouth wide, he scooted back away from what was in front of him. "B-bird? TINY birds?! Wh-what… ARE they?!" In his rush, his eye caught the goron walking about in the background. "And what is that thing?!"

Sure, Link might have taken the differences of the surface in more stride than most people, but really? Those were the first things he freaked out about? Link was just weighing the possibility of leaving him here when he was met with a heavy force on his shoulders.

Groose had grabbed Link and pulled him close to him. "But…how… Wh-why… Wha-what… Where am I?!" He frantically started shaking him back and forth. "What's going on here? Ever since Zelda vanished, you've been zipping in and out of town all in a hurry! So I figured I'd tail you, and you might lead me to Zelda."

Goddess, it was _always_ about Zelda with this guy. Granted, Link had thought about her a lot lately, but that made sense.

"But this is…so wild. Seriously, what IS that thing over there?! And what's with all these trees? There are so many!" He was shaking Link so badly that he thought he might be sick if it didn't stop soon. Fortunately, Groose chose that moment to do so. "Just give it to me straight! I can take it. Where are we? Is Zelda here? What's the deal with this place?! If there's supposed to be nothin' below the clouds, what's all this?"

Link strongly considered telling him to mind his own business. Despite the fact that as far as he could tell, most of the town knew at least that he was looking for Zelda, the full details of the mission were _not_ something he wanted public. The mere fact that there was a Surface would cause an explosion of reactions throughout the islands (not to mention the Sages), and if he had ever been concerned about people interfering before, this incident showed him just how much he did _not_ want the possibility of anyone else doing the same.

But then again he was also pretty sure there was no chance of him being able to just send Groose back to the academy and pretend this didn't happen. Heck, he didn't even know if the statues would even work for sending him up to the sky. So, he pushed one of Groose's arms off, and, stepping back, gave a heavily abbreviated explanation.

At the end of it, Groose fell onto his knees, eyes glazed. "Uhhh… Whoa… You're kind of imploding my mind right now… But I think I get what you're saying."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Link had to bite back laughter, both from how utterly confused his classmate was, but also because a number of birds had landed on Groose's shoulders and hair.

"If I've got this right, Zelda is down here somewhere and she's… OK?" He let out a heavy breath. "She's…She's Ok. Oh, wow! That's so great! Duh huh huh… Hearing that is such a…huge weight off my mind." And he actually, genuinely, _smiled_. At _Link_.

Well now he was kind of weirded out. Like, yeah, it was nice that he hadn't gotten like his usual stubborn obnoxious self in a bit, but this was all _super_ out of character, it seemed. If you'd asked Link before this, he would never have thought Groose gave even the slightest damn about Zelda herself. Not that he was fully convinced right now either.

"You know, Link… It's sort of all right down here." ( _Good, because you might be stuck here_ , Link thought) He cast his gaze around, a light in his eye and new interest on his features. "This place needs a name. Yeah… A name fitting for this rugged, adventurous wilderness. From now on, we'll call it… Grooseland!"

Link stared off into the distance for a second, then turned and started walking towards the Sealed Temple without responding to … that. There were actually a few moments of blessed silence before Groose caught up.

"Hey, where d'you think you're going!"

"To go…help Zelda?" He squinted, frowning.

Groose crossed his arms, towering since he stood almost on top of Link. "I see… Right, Link. Thanks for getting me here. You've done a good job. You can head home." A condescending smirk. "Big Groose will handle the search for Zelda from here. Yup. I'll track her down, save her, and then give her a lift back to Skyloft…" He ran his hands over his hair, which now had a couple bird feathers stuck in it. "Then when we get back, I'll ask her if she wants to make our whole going-out thing official, and then the two of us will get some quality time together." His voice took on a dreamy quality as he stared off, lost in the fantasy.

It made Link feel more ill than the shaking. Obviously none of that would ever happen, for _so_ many reasons, but he also had witnessed how impossible it had been to shake that realization into Groose. Not to mention the fact that he cared far more about getting Zelda to like him than _actually wanting to save her because she was in danger_. "Can you give that a rest for five minutes?"

Narrowing his eyes, he leaned into Link's face. "What, you scared because there's finally someone competent to take over for you? Because now Zelda might finally realize what a wimp you really are when _I_ save her in half the time you've taken so far? Hmph!" With that, he ran off and through the Temple entrance.

Link tilted his head back and took a few deep breaths. This was just a minor annoyance, nothing that would keep bothering him as soon as he left here. It was fine. Calmed, he went in after him.

"Huh? You gotta be kidding me, Grannie!" Groose stood on the top of the steps in front of the old woman, poised for a fight "You're messing with me. Say it again, I dare you!"

In contrast, she sat with a stony look that suggested his presence was barely worth the effort to even acknowledge. "I only speak the truth. You are not the one who will save her. The spirit maiden, your Zelda," and there was a bit of venom to that, as if thinking about the two of them in the same breath was a deep insult, "can only be saved by another. It has been his fate to do this thing, and in doing so save us. As it was decided long before you were brought crying into this world."

Oh, she was good. Tempted as he was to watch Groose be further torn apart, he _was_ here with a mission. Link started his way up the steps.

"Shut it, Grannie! You obviously don't know me well, 'cause if you did, you'd know that if anyone's gonna save Zelda, it's Groose!" He had worked himself up very well now, pouring what felt like the combined fury of the many years he'd spent attempting to convince Zelda that he was the superior choice. "How could it not be me? Plus, if it ain't me, why would I even be here? Pffft. If I'm not up to the job of being the hero, just who is? Huh?"

At that point, Link ducked under his outstretched arm to greet the old woman. "I was told to come to you for direction," he said, ignoring Groose completely.

He scoffed loudly. "So you're in on it with Grannie telling me you're gonna be the big hero who rescues Zelda?" Stepping around and between the two of them again, he jabbed a finger towards Link. "What a joke! Look, all I've heard so far is a bunch of babbling about destiny, but that's a load of garbage. I know you, and you're no hero, shrimp!" With a yell, he stormed away and out to the Sealed Grounds themselves.

Well, at least that would keep him occupied for as long as it took to realize there was no way out besides the way he'd come. Link told the old woman what had happened, following her instructions in turn as she showed him how to use the instrument that turned out to be more than a mere school prop.

She had just begun to tell him about the second Gate of Time the temple housed when the ground began to shake violently. Shouting for him to hurry, she guided him out to the Grounds, instructing him to check on the seal.

What he found when he finally made it to the bottom was something out of his nightmares. Literally. As the creature emerged in a cloud of smoke, a memory clicked in the back of his mind and the contents of a dozen dreams he'd had with this thing featuring flooded into his memory. Fortunately, it was slow, making Link's going rather easy.

Until Groose landed heavily next to Link as he was about to drive the spike all the way into the thing's head, pushing him aside. "Stand aside, and see how a real hero works!"

But as he rushed towards the Imprisoned, it got up. Ignoring Link's warning shout, Groose dashed in front of it just in time for it to flop onto its stomach and begin barreling up the path. Its sweeping motion caught him, sending him flying toward the rock wall with a sharp noise that could not have been good.

Link didn't have time to check on him. The monster was getting far too close to the Temple as it was, and he was not sticking around to find out what would happen if it got there.

The thing collapsed into a shower of those odd scales when he struck it once more, all of them retracting into the spike, which floated down back to the center of the pit. A few more swipes of his sword, and the monster was re-sealed.

And _then_ Link trudged back up to check on Groose.

He growled at the other when he approached, clutching his right arm to himself. "Back off, you! Why'd you have to get in my way?"

At least he was alright enough for that. Link really could have used a nap right about then.

The old woman trudged over to the pair. "Though the Imprisoned had only just begun to awaken and break its bonds, I'm impressed you were able to restore the seal keeping it captive. Unfortunately, you have only succeeded in buying us a little more time in which to act." Yippee. "The behemoth you beat back into confinement is a horror of unspeakable power. Judging by what I saw, I would not be surprised if the seal gave way again soon. So you are left with precious little time to complete the task with which you have been entrusted. Return to the Sealed Temple, Link. There is much to discuss."

Yeah, nap sounded _really_ good. It was just one thing after another; no rest for him anytime soon, it seemed. He took another glance at Groose, but from the glare he was still giving, he didn't seem exactly in the mood to have his injury looked at. Fine. Maybe when he calmed down, Link would offer him a potion. Until then, he had work to do.

He followed Link back up to the Temple just in time to hear the old woman tell him that the clue to the sacred flames was back up in Skyloft. His presence was announced by a loud sniff. "I hate even sayin' this, but I guess you got it all figured out, Grannie. Me, well, there's nothin' I can do to help Zelda. I'm useless." Holding out his arm, "Can't even fly with this all broken up."

The old woman tried to reassure him, but he simply stormed back outside, close to bawling.

Link gave him a few minutes before going after him. As much as the guy sucked, it did make him feel bad to see him in pain. Especially moreso when Link found him pounding on a wall outside the door with his good hand, sobbing about how he couldn't do anything. Sighing heavily, he approached cautiously. "Is that…really broken?"

He jumped. "Yeah, what's it to ya?" There was a bluster even stronger than usual to his aggressive movements, as if to make up for the fact that there were also tears in his eyes at the moment. "You better get someone to fix this, or it'll just be another thing that's your fault!"

Nothing about the incident would be what Link would call 'his' fault, but Groose was right about finding a medical expert. Potions could speed up a lot of the healing process, but fully mending a broken bone was not one of them. And without someone who knew how to set it, even a fairy's extra healing power would only have it knit together wrong.

However, bringing another person down to the Surface was also one of the very last things Link was interested in doing. Especially considering how well _this_ one had gone. Running through the nearest couple islands' populations in mind, the diagram of people who fit into both the 'knows enough about medicine to fix a broken arm' and 'can be trusted not to freak out and/or tell people about everything' categories was population: one. In those categories, it was a _really good_ option. Of course, there were plenty of other problems with that option, least of which being that Link had recently been about the biggest jerk possible to him.

But now that he had yet another reason to should go to him, Link knew that he couldn't keep using his unwillingness to confront his bad choices as an excuse not to see Vayu, especially since he had to go to Skyloft anyway. He only hoped there was something he could do to make up for it all.

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They emerged from the shimmering tunnel of the gate, and for the first second, Zelda worried that they might have gotten turned around somehow. In the darkness, this Temple looked much the same. It was only after Impa stepped out and the gate crumbled behind them that Zelda started picking up on differences.

For one thing, the air here was much more reminiscent of the Faron province, rich and earthy and full of the sounds of nighttime insects and what seemed the distant hum of machinery. And though she couldn't see the structures of the Temple itself very well, the stone reflected the moonlight in a way it certainly hadn't in her time.

"We will rest here until the morning." Impa put a hand on her shoulder. She was quiet again while they got settled in a spot by the back wall. Noticing how Zelda was clutching at herself, she conjured a small fire. "If you wish to sleep right away, I would not stop you. But otherwise…" She looked out into the distance. "I believe I owe you a conversation."

Zelda sat up. "Oh." She tilted her head. "Really?"

"Do you not want to talk about it anymore?"

"No! No, I do. I, uh." Looking down, she played with one of her bracelets. Now she kind of felt bad. "I just wasn't expecting you to bring it up, I guess."

Impa sighed. That was fair enough. Had the circumstances of their departure from the present day not been what they had, she likely would not have. But now, well… "You deserve an explanation, I believe. I think it will be helpful for you to understand in the days to come."

She nodded, hugging her knees. "Alright then."

"As much as it pains me to admit, you were correct in that my behavior in the Earth Spring was due to my own emotions." She held her arm with the other hand. "This mission…is one I have been preparing for for a long time. And I knew there would be some difficulties, but" Squeezing her eyes shut, she chewed on her lip for a moment before continuing. "The fate of the whole world is dependent on this mission, and therefore, your wellbeing. To find that you were in danger…"

"You were scared," Zelda murmured, staring into the fire. "And that made you angry."

"…yes." She heaved a sigh. "In the wake of the champion's arrival at the Temple right when we needed him, his actions there, I realized that he truly is committed to his role in protecting you." Putting a hand to her chest, Impa bowed. "For that transgression, your servant offers her deepest apologies."

Zelda startled, eyes shining (or perhaps that was just the firelight). "No, I- …it's fine. It's not ideal, but these things happen." A smile. "I mean, we're only human, right?"

Impa gave her a strange look, clearly amused by something that she'd said. "Perhaps." Then, "For now, I will need to rest to get us to our next destination."

Zelda woke to find Impa still asleep, propped up against the wall with her cloak draped over her. Deciding to let her rest (she had looked like she needed it), she wandered idly around the Temple. As she paced, her mind drifted to thoughts of what might be happening on the other side. Those last moments with Link… could she have said something more? She had hoped they could've had an actual conversation this time before she left, but instead the shock of everything going on had stunned out of her all the things she'd wanted to say and she'd just yelled out the first things that came to mind. The consolation that she'd at least been able to leave messages with the robots warmed her.

Still…she missed him. Link's usual mode of being relaxed about everything had kept her steady through a lot in the past, and even if this mission made him a little less so, it would still be nice to have someone familiar. And she had actually seen _him_ in the past few…well, she'd kind of lost track of time, but the point was, it had been far longer since she'd seen Vayu. Zelda was faintly sure Link had a way of returning to the sky, but that would still be a lot for Vayu to deal with.

Propping her elbows up against a lower wall, she sighed, watching the sunrise. After a moment, she reached back, tugging on the braided string around her neck. Really, everything would have been so much easier if it were all three of them on this together. A wistful smile as her fingers traced the carvings in the wood of her pendant.

Link had made a set for the three of them several months ago, and had been adorably shy in presenting them. She hadn't been able to resist teasing him about what the abstract whirls and curves 'meant.' Each of them had a slightly different pattern, gorgeously painted in colors corresponding to each of their usual wardrobe choices. But all of them had a thin line of gold running through the deepest crevice of the carvings, a reminder of their connection beneath it all.

Lost in thought as she was, she hardly noticed when Impa came up beside her. Impa stood there with her for a little, a comfortable silence in the cool morning air. She turned her head, about to say something. In fact, she did, but it was clear the contents had changed in the process of her looking at Zelda. "What is that you have there?"

She tried to casually curl her fingers around it in an attempt to conceal. "Just…something of mine."

Impa stared at her with the expression of every teacher who'd ever caught her passing notes in class. "Of yours," she repeated, and Zelda realized that had been the wrong thing to say. Impa frowned. "Do you not recall what I told you when we first met? You cannot allow yourself any distractions from the life you've left behind if you want to accept your new one." She held out her hand. "You will understand in due time."

Zelda took a few steps back. "If I'm going to agree with you eventually, why won't you just wait until then?"

"Because you will need to concentrate and _let go_ before you can get to that point."

"You keep saying that, that I'll lose focus. You don't know me!" She gripped the necklace with such a force that it would definitely leave marks. "Sure, I miss home, but even though I _never asked to be a part of this_ , I believe enough in the Goddess's will being right that I'm willing to help." Glaring daggers, she took a final step away. "But I'm not inclined to keep thinking like that if you insist on being so unreasonable."

Impa crossed her arms over her chest, regarding her coolly. "You don't have many other options, at this point."

A flash of a sly grin. "I can be pretty resourceful."

"This is exactly what I mean." Her words were laden with tension. Apt, since she was about twenty seconds from yanking the necklace off of her at this point. "You're allowing your attachment to such a trivial thing get in the way of what needs to be done!"

It's not trivial!" There were nearly tears in her eyes now. "You're telling me you don't keep any mementos of your friends and family?!"

The moment those words were spoken, Impa's eyes widened and she turned away with an expression of hurt so strong you would've thought Zelda had slapped her.

" _Oh_." she said, but the voice stuck in her throat and she ended up mouthing it more than anything else.

"We ought to get moving." Already starting to channel the same magic from when she'd opened a portal in the spring, she marched toward the center of the Temple.

Zelda's insides were in knots. She couldn't have known, and yet some part of her felt like she should already have been fully aware. "Impa, I-"

"Enough." She stood before the puddle of light, face firmly set. "Unless you wish me to take it away after all?"

Her hands immediately flew to clutch at the necklace again.

With nothing more than a curt nod, she waited for Zelda to step through the portal before going through it herself.

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Link wound his way through the back path in Skyloft's residential area, every step an effort in composure. He'd decided seeing Vayu first was his best option for several reasons, not least of which being that it would keep him from panicking and running off if he still had other things to do. And he was very nervous. Which was unfair of him, because Vayu had every right to be furious with him. As he stood before his door, Link resolved to accept whatever judgment he received.

But when his knocks received no answer, the raging storm of his insides only became louder. Perhaps he was out, perhaps he was ignoring him, yes he hadn't knocked with much force but he wasn't sure if he could bring himself to be bolder, and oh Goddess he was opening the door.

At first glance he thought Vayu really wasn't home. It was only as he crept inside that he noticed Vayu, sitting on the floor among literal stacks of books nearly taller than him. Currently he was scribbling something out on one of the many papers scattered in front of him, using his other hand to brush out of his face the hair that spilled out of his messy bun.

Then the wind pulled the door shut quite loudly, startling them both.

Turning towards the source of the noise, Vayu finally noticed Link standing just inside. He got to his feet. "Link?" His eyebrows scrunched and mouth flat but slightly open, he slowly approached with shoulders hunched, an arm pulled into his chest.

Link, for his part, couldn't bring himself to say anything, to do anything but shut his eyes as he approached, bracing. Subsequently, he was nearly bowled over as Vayu threw himself at him.

"You're _alright_ ," Vayu breathed.

Link had frozen up on reflex at the touch. His mind scrambled to come up with a response to the unexpected reaction, which was only made more difficult by the sudden wave of emotion that came over him. So instead, he simply wrapped his arms around Vayu and hugged him tight.

For his part, Vayu was content to keep holding on to Link like it had been far longer than a few days since he'd last seen him.

He took a deep breath, running his hands through Vayu's hair. "Vayu, I'm _so_ sorry. The way I left, I… I wanted to make sure I could protect Zelda, and I was so worried I couldn't even think, and I just…" Shaking, Link buried his face in his shoulder. "I knew you were upset, and I could have stopped. I needed to stop for the night anyway after I landed but-" A hollow laugh. "But I still did it. The hurting you part wasn't on purpose but I knew what I was doing and I could've stopped but I _didn't_ so I guess it kind of was and I just…"

Vayu sighed. "I'm not angry with you." His voice was tired, but gentle. "Maybe I should be; I know I'm upset, but…I don't know." With a hand, he guided Link to step back so he could look at him. "Right now I'm too busy being relieved that you're in one piece." Exhaling a laugh, he kissed his forehead. "I mean, seriously. You hardly look injured at all this time."

"Oh, yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck. "So this might be a weird question, but… does Zelda know healing magic?"

"She what?"

The confused look on his boyfriend's face shook the remaining vestiges of tension out of him completely. "Yeah. She did some magic thing that fixed my injuries, and I _thought_ it was odd, but." He shrugged.

"No, she definitely doesn't." Vayu frowned, staring up. "Unless she hadn't told me." He blinked. "You saw her? Wasn't this supposed to be the last thing you had to do?"

Link hung his head. With a deep sigh, he gestured for Vayu to sit with him on the couch. After they'd moved the books off and sat, he filled him in on the events at the Temple of Time and what the old woman had told him.

By the end, Vayu was sitting with his head in his hands. "It just keeps getting better, doesn't it?"

Not really sure what else to do, he pat him consolingly on the shoulder.

"I mean, she's safer now, presumably." He ran a hand through his hair, the fact that any of it was still up more of a technicality than anything else at this point. "But who knows how long it'll be until we can see her again." Looking up at Link through his bangs, he smiled. "Well, by 'we' I mean 'you'."

Link nudged him. "Don't talk like that."

An airy laugh. "Didn't mean it like that this time, actually." He threw his legs across Link's lap. "Just that the way things are going, you're going to be in contact with her much sooner than I am."

"Mmm, probably." There was a pause, then Link paused and flicked his own forehead. "Almost forgot. I cannot believe-" He shook his head. "Zelda left a message with the robots-"

Vayu leaned forward. "What robots?"

"Oh, the desert used to have a bunch of robots who lived there, but then they broke down, but Zelda fixed some of them and anyway the point is when I ran into them they said that Zelda said that I should tell you that she says she loves you."

The laughter he'd been having at the delivery died at the last few words. Covering his mouth with a hand, he looked down. "Thank you." His voice was gentle, but shaken, and he closed his eyes as he spoke.

Link put his arm around him. "I told you before; she's thinking about both of us." A beat. "Also told me not to let you worry. You know, for as well as I did _that_."

That finally got a small smile out of him again. He leaned into him with a tiny sigh.

"There is one last thing." He reached inside his bag.

Vayu made an interested sound but didn't move from where he'd comfortably fitted himself against Link.

"What do you think about this?" He placed an ancient flower in Vayu's hands.

There was a moment of silence where he slowly moved to stare at Link, arching an eyebrow and then frowning. "I know that I know about a whole lot of things, but do I look like some kind of weird plant expert to you?"

He shrugged noncommittally. "Wanted to see if you knew anything about it before I took it to Professor Owlan. Haven't been to the school in ages." Something occurred to him as he thought about it. He'd already had one person pay enough attention to his movements to be able to follow him (not really helped by the fact that the Goddess's signs were hardly subtle), and the school especially would be interested in what he was doing. So not only could he be expected to be swarmed with classmates asking questions, simply walking in out in the open could also attract _more_ long-term trouble. Actually, that kind of applied to the town in general, when he thought about it.

"Link?" Vayu touched a hand to the side of his face. "You doing okay?"

"…Yeah. I just…" he bounced his leg. "How have things been, up here? I mean, I wouldn't expect you to have gone around _asking_ people, but have you noticed any kind of discussion of my mission where I should be worried about just walking around wherever whenever?"

He huffed, crossing his arms. "My instincts tell me you should, but" Making a face, he waved his hand in a way Link parsed as 'considering everything, I'm not the best person to ask for a neutral opinion.' After a pause, he gestured to the room in general. "Also, I kind of haven't left in a few days, so I don't really know anyway."

Studying the piles, there were a lot of books, and a good number he didn't recognize. "What have you been studying?"

Vayu stiffened. "It's not really important anymore."

"It…isn't?" Link tilted his head to the side. He tried to think about what would even be so important as to take up his time obsessively but then get dropped and oh. Watching him twirl a strand of hair around his finger, Link asked gently, "Does this have something to do with me?"

The way he almost immediately started shaking his one hand was a definite yes. Finally, he dropped his hands to his lap. "I know what I said a while ago, about not wanting to get involved. But after what you said and…everything with Zelda, I couldn't stand the idea of just _waiting_." Vayu shrunk away. "So I…decided I had to find a way to go after you."

"You what?!" His initial reaction was purely a reflexive one, but he still regretted it as Vayu practically flipped off of the couch. Considering how tense he'd already been, of _course_ that had freaked him out. "Aw Goddess," he muttered under his breath. At a normal volume, "I'm sorry, I didn't…I'm not upset. That was just unexpected."

"It's okay." He fixed a couple of the books that he'd knocked over, still not looking in Link's direction, though. "If it helps any, I'd pretty much resigned myself to the fact that unless I thought I could improve on my wind magic _that_ much in a short time, I'd have to resort to mundane measures."

Link hugged his knees into himself. "Like what?"

A laugh. "The furthest I'd gotten so far was the idea of bribing Beedle to take me over to the hole in the surface in his shop so I could drop from there."

"That sounds dangerous."

Having finished with the books, he was playing with one of the bookmarks, posture easing up but still twitchy whenever Link moved too much or too fast. "Yeah. Especially since he's a merchant, it'd be a hard bargain making sure I had enough so he wouldn't ask questions or tell anyone else."

 _Oh, right. That too._ A small amount of concern gently chewed its way into his chest. Even though he did think about those kind of things a bit, it was still something he had the luxury of being able to forget. Noticing the way Vayu'd started to pick at the threads of the fabric on the bookmark in the quiet, he decided to try a different topic. "What was your plan once you got down, though? I know I've told you the Surface is huge, so it's not like you could just wander around until you maybe bumped into me."

Vayu rested a hand against his collar. "That was the easy part, actually." And there was that smile, the way he tilted his head back because now he got to talk about magic. "As long as you have some sample of it, you can magically track anything or anyone, unless they're actively blocking you. Or if it's too old a sample, in the case of a living being, but, the point is that's what I was thinking."

"Oh. Yeah. Fi can do that, actually. What were you planning on using, anyw-" Then he noticed what Vayu was doing. Link took out his own necklace. "These?"

"I mean, it was the only thing I knew for sure you'd have on you, and you said they were all made out of the same thing of wood." He shrugged. Vayu watched him quietly for a moment, eyes bright. "It's all moot now anyway," he said in a carefully light tone.

He could feel Vayu's mood drop again, and Goddess, Link wished there was something he could do to change things. "Vayu, I…I'm sorry."

"You already apologized, it's fine."

"But, specifically. For what I said right before I left." Where it had come from, he had no idea, and frankly it scared him. The same way his growing ease with fighting did, but that was necessary, at least. _This_ was… "I knew what I was doing…and after all the time I'd spent trying to reassure you, _that_ was just cruel of me."

Silently, he got up and padded over to sit next to Link on the couch. Putting his head on Link's shoulder, he sighed. "I told you before, and I'm still not angry. Can't say you were wrong about it being" he flicked his wrist. "You know." A pause, then a really long sigh. "Would that this were over already, huh?"

"Yeah." The mission was supposed to be important, although Link had no idea of why yet. _Still_ , really. Despite how much he'd already done, he still hadn't even been given an inkling of what was really going on, constantly having the prospect of an answer yanked away from him at the last moment and being asked to do more. Goddess, he was so tired. Not physically, although a little that too. He pushed himself up. "I should get going. See if I can sneak into the academy and find out what I'm supposed to do."

Vayu made a vague noise of encouragement. Pulling on his tunic, he stopped Link for a moment. "Think you could come back and rest for the evening?"

There was that temptation to run off again, but he shook it away this time. "Yeah."

"Good. Go save the world, or whatever," he murmured, kissing him.


	6. Chapter 6

The other end of the portal turned out to be another familiar, but not too familiar sight. "Oh. Back at the Temple of Hy-" Zelda started and quickly had to stop as pain arced through her skull.

"Is this going to keep happening?" she hissed after Impa had caught her under her arms mid-fall.

"For a time, unfortunately. And before you ask, I cannot tell you the cause at the moment. It would simply harm you more." She waited until Zelda seemed steady on her feet again before letting go. "But now that you have purified your spirit and returned to the place it is most attuned, we can begin the process of awakening it." With a careful step back, she gestured at the room around them. "If you would settle down wherever your mind draws you."

Zelda hadn't spent much time in the old Sealed Temple, but that didn't affect her much now. No sooner had she slowly paced by the steps to the upper level than she felt that same tug that had guided her through the lands once more calling her. The click of her sandals against the stone was the only distinguishable sound as she made her way up (another odd-but-not-odd detail, the facts saying she'd heard plenty of wildlife her first time here but her intuition knowing it was to be expected). Without the slightest hesitation, she stepped toward the doors in front of her, and just in time for her not to walk into them, they swung open on their own, allowing her entrance into the chamber before her.

A respectful distance behind, Impa followed silently until Zelda had sat comfortably. Good. Things were finally going to start making sense again, and it would all be put right. "Now, do you remember what I told you before about channeling your magic _through_ the connection you have with the Goddess?"

She nodded. It had been a weird concept, and she hadn't really understood what it was supposed to feel like until the moment she'd done that spontaneous healing. And even that was only in the hindsight of now. So this would be the first time of her actually doing the thing properly. No pressure.

"I want you to do that now, and then keep it there for as long as you can. Concentrate on how it feels. It will probably be disorienting, but try to relax and be open to what happens."

Zelda concentrated on her magic just enough so that she could feel it tingling in her. Carefully, she then reached for that spot in her mind where she'd been getting information from Hylia, poking questions at some of the bits she'd already gotten until she could feel that dizzy warmth seep into her again. Tensing as she worked to keep both processes active, she waited until the burden of it lessened. Then, carefully, she pulled on the center of her magic and shifted it until it met the source of her divine connection.

At first, nothing happened. Slowly, as she continued to concentrate, a wave of tiredness swept through her. She sighed. Looked over to where Impa knelt before her, and spoke. It was in the way of dreams where her voice made no comprehensible sounds yet she understood the meaning and in the moment none of it was anything she even thought of questioning.

When she finished with her orders, Impa looked up with wide eyes, protesting. A wave of her arm silenced her, and as she reassured that this was the only way, Impa's determined stance lessened. With a tight expression, she nodded before hurrying off.

Alone now, she turned, and prepared her magic in a way that wasn't channeling so much as focusing the strands of it that flowed off of her into a clear purpose. She was hurt and so very tired, but there was far too much work to be done first.

And then just like that, Zelda was suddenly transported to sitting on the ground with her eyes closed. As she opened them, she noticed Impa standing a little ways away from her. "When did you come…" She frowned. "Have I done anything since I sat down for this?"

"No."

Huh. So it hadn't actually been something she'd done. But it had felt so real, even as the details were trickling through her active mind enough to know that it couldn't have been. Surprisingly, none of this was freaking her out as much as she might have thought (but then again, that also seemed par for the course lately). After another moment, she turned back to Impa. "So I saw- felt… something happened but didn't and you were there but…what does that _mean_?"

She smiled delightedly. "It _means_ that you are making great progress."

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"…Two whirling sails. Hmm."

Link had somewhat of an idea of what that was meant to be. Sneaking a glance out the window at the darkening sky, he figured he should get going now while the rest of the school would still be gone at dinner. "Thank you for the information, sir."

"Oh, wait just a minute." The Headmaster looked at him with the same graveness as after Link had given him the basic rundown of Zelda's situation. "Obviously I would like for my daughter's safe return to be as soon as possible, but I also feel I must warn you to be cautious. You see, rumors of your quest to find Zelda have found their way to most of the islands by now." He puffed out his stomach, a hand to his chest. "Now, of course no one outside this room knows the actual details," (Link nodded, trying his best not to look guilty) "but there have been those who have noticed that in conjunction with the openings in the cloud layer that have been appearing."

Oh, lovely. Not like that was the exact thing he'd been worrying about only a little while ago, something that had _already_ interfered with his plans once.

"And, well." Despite the door being closed and the two of them clearly being the only ones in the Headmaster's room, he leaned in closer to Link, a hand to one side of his mouth. "People are starting to talk about the possibility of a land underneath the clouds, one that you have been travelling to." He stood up a little. "Which of course is correct, but…" A sigh. "Yesterday, I received a visit from Sage Orik."

It was as though the temperature had dropped several degrees. She was only one of the heads of the local Order of Hylia. Now _that_ changed everything.

"She told me that they were seeking to quash those rumors. According to them, a surface world, if such a place even exists, is a realm of monsters, one we should never go near. The Goddess Hylia created the sky for us, gave us Loftwings to live here and formed the cloud barrier to keep us safe from the forces which might wish to harm us." It was said with the same ease that he'd heard the Headmaster recite all other teachings of Hylia, usually a bit sleep-inducing like any long speech a teacher gave, but this time discomforting because of how it focused specifically on him. Then he gave a (what he probably hoped was reassuring) smile. "Of course, I do believe you are the exception, given everything. I did not tell her that in as many words, but," he leaned in again. "She did not say anything about you herself, but I suspect that it would be wise for you to avoid anything that would spread or encourage ideas of a Surface any further."

The headmaster wished him well on his journey, but Link hardly paid it attention as he left, practically dashing through the hall and over the roof paths of the school out into town. He plopped down in the shade of a tree, faced away from where anyone might be passing him by.

The Temple of Hylia had taken notice of what he was doing. An interest, even, perhaps. Which should have been a good thing. For most people, it would. He had to agree with them, the Surface was super dangerous and he wouldn't want people just wandering there either. And if he went to them now, they'd probably be more than willing to help him out once he explained things.

 _If_ he was most people. _If_ it was just him and Zelda and the only perspective he had of them was that of a positive and hardworking influence that pretty much all of the rest of the community of Skyloft seemed to have. But it wasn't, and that meant he would have to do anything he could to stay away from them and any attention his actions might draw.

This resolution was challenged less than an hour later, when after finding one propeller to the windmills broken, he ended up in front of Gondo's shop.

"Hey kid! What's up? You look like you need to get something off your chest… I think I know what it is. You've got a favor to ask me, right?"

Link waved his hand frantically in a 'keep it down' gesture before nodding. "Can we talk in the back?"

Stretching out one of his arms, Gondo frowned. "Sure, I guess. Don't know what that's got to do with anything."

The work area itself was covered in scrap metal and tools, a fire burning in the corner. Link could hardly guess at the use of a quarter of the things as he looked around, not spotting what he'd hoped to find. When Gondo finally settled in, he asked. "So, I heard that your grandfather used to have a robot?"

"Really? …You just came here to make fun of the crazy junk guy for believing in his grandpa's stupid stories, right? Well, get in line…I've heard it before." He shook his head.

"No, I believe you." The little description he had gotten made it sound like the ones in the desert. "Do you still have it?"

Gondo blinked in surprise. "Well, I'm happy to hear that someone else believes me, but, you see, my grandpa's old robot… What's it called again…" he murmured as he got up to rustle through the shelves. "Oh, hey, that's right… I remember! His name is Scrapper. He may not be much to look at these days… But he was an amazing robot once! When you called him, he would go anywhere and haul anything!" He placed on the workbench what was now a familiar sight to Link. "Sadly, as you can see now…he's just another busted ol' hunk of junk…"

Link smiled as he reached into his bag. "I have something that can help with that." He pulled out an ancient flower.

"WHAT?! Is that one of those flowers my Gramps used to talk about for fixing this guy up?" He turned it over in his hands. "…Wait right here. I'll have Scrapper up and running in no time!"

After all that, it was disheartening (and a little obnoxious) to find that this robot was far less happy to interact with him than the ones Zelda had fixed up had been. It listened to Fi, at least, and they had the propeller back to the island by sundown.

(As he made his way to the Light Tower, he turned Scrapper's declaration of being able to carry anything 'regardless of weight or destination' around in his head. That could certainly come in handy later.)

The Tower itself proved easy enough to work with. Play the song the old woman had taught him and let the magic do the rest. And following the path into the weird cloud place? Fine; he'd done a lot of other dangerous stuff so far. What worried Link about this whole thing was not only the fact that one of the tallest structures on the island had changed, but that people were going to wake up to yet _another_ Conspicuous Beam Of Light that someone besides him might decide to investigate. The Goddess really did not know how to give signs subtly, that was for sure.

But that was Morning Link's problem. For the remainder of the night, he was going to rest.

Despite the later hour, he stepped cautiously on his way back to Vayu's, checking to make sure no one had noticed or followed him. It was only once he stepped inside that he relaxed.

"Rough day?" Vayu leaned against the edge of the table, regarding Link with a fond smile.

He slid down, an unintelligible noise escaping his throat. _Such_ a long day. They'd all been, lately. The him before all this had started would be surprised, but right now he would've much preferred to have to deal with monsters and dungeons and such. Still would've been a lot, but at least then he'd only be physically tired.

"Hey."

Link opened his eyes to see Vayu standing over him.

He held a hand out. "Let's get you something to eat."

They ate in quiet for a while. Vayu tried his best not to look concerned and otherwise didn't press him, and Link appreciated that. It gave him time to think. There were plenty of things he had to share, but considering the weightiness of it all, having the ability to figure out how to present it was very good.

"So, you remember what I said about the Sealed Grounds?"

A nod.

"It wasn't just me down there." He frowned. "Groose followed me."

Vayu's face cycled between half a dozen different reactions before he finally slumped onto the table, head buried in his arms. A little hysterically, "yeah, sure. Why not? Of course it would be him." A pause, then he brought his head up the tiniest bit. "Wait. Where is he now? It can't be good to just let him run around doing whatever."

Link heaved a sigh. "That's not a problem at least. He ran in front of a monster and broke his arm, so…he's stuck down there for now."

"Please tell me you didn't try to set it."

Stunned, and having now completely forgotten about the rest of his dinner, he waved a hand. "Are you saying we should just leave him down there and let it heal wrong?"

"No, I'm just saying-" He put a hand to his chin. "Huh. Actually, that's an idea."

" _Vayu_."

He gave a frown that would've been cute under most other circumstances. " _Fine_." With a sigh, he slumped back down. "But what I meant is that I know you have no idea how to fix that kind of thing, and if you do it wrong it'll just make things worse."

"No, I was…trying to figure out how it would work, though. Getting someone down." Now that he was saying it, it seemed pretty ridiculous an idea.

Vayu sat himself up, elbows on the table. "Found anyone you trust with all that yet?" When Link first spluttered, he laughed airily. That would require someone who would not only believe Link, but could also not freak out or tell people about everything, and on top of that actually had enough medical knowledge to be helpful. Then Vayu noticed that Link was still looking away, fiddling with the edge of his hat. And _then_ it dawned on him. "Oh."

"Yeah…"

"Bit of a bigger problem there though, huh?" It was probably (okay, definitely) mean of him to find this while situation amusing, but considering that half of it was due to his own issues and the only person really being affected was Groose, he was fine with that.

Sucking in a breath, Link bit his lip. "Actually, I think I found an answer to that. There's this robot that can fly, and supposedly can lift any weight."

"What, like those stories Gondo would tell…" Vayu's eyes widened in realization. "Like the robots in the desert. I see." Oh now Link was getting excited and that was really cute. Which made it a shame he was about to introduce another issue. "You do realize that he isn't exactly going to be pleased to see _me_."

"Not like he has a choice, if he wants it fixed." He stopped, furrowing his brow. It was like a cloud had passed over him. After a long moment, he sunk down into his seat and on the table. "That doesn't mean you don't, though."

He could tell where Link was going with this. Vayu did not like Groose, both because he was a massive jerk and also for legitimate worry reasons. And yeah, as much as he tried to tell himself otherwise, Vayu _was_ the type of person who kind of _wanted_ to listen to those little urges to just be a massive douchebag at any given moment. Which meant that right now he _really_ wanted to outright dismiss the possibility of helping Groose, and maybe that was part of what made him kind of a monster… But the thing was that he also knew better, and tried to be good even when it wasn't just out of fear for his life. So he mustered up the best 'unattached and logical' voice he had at the moment. "I thought we agreed there wasn't anyone else who _could_ help?"

With a surprisingly intent gaze, he looked up from where he was still slumped. "We could find a different way. I don't want to force you to be around him, especially if you're going to feel unsafe."

Yup, what he was expecting. Even if the sentiment had him choking up inside, if he had to take a moment to recover from the _emotion_ of it. Especially coming from Link, with such _sincerity_ (because Link was the one who couldn't stand to see anyone injured, soft and kind and wanting to help even those who hurt _him_ \- it was those who hurt others that he took real issue with – that he would want to give Vayu an option even if he felt bad about it, _oh_ ).

Vayu didn't even realize that his thoughts had gone off until Link placed a hand on top of his and he startled out of it.

Concern in his eyes, he simply tilted his head to the side, questioning but patient.

Well, how could he say no to him? "I…I'll be fine with it as long as you're going to be there. I trust you."

Link squeezed his hand. "You sure?"

Vayu scooted his chair around so they were right next to each other, (made slightly difficult by his refusal to have Link let go of his hand) before leaning to kiss him on the forehead. "Yes." He hummed into the side of his neck as he slid down to drape himself against Link. A beat. "Besides, he'll probably throw a fit and that'll be fun to watch."

Despite his effort to stifle the laugh, he could tell from the way Vayu shifted that he'd noticed. Which was nice, in its own way. Made him feel better and more secure about what had been decided. So Link decided to let that comfort stay for a while, resting until the only thing that kept him from falling asleep was the occasional brush of Vayu's slightly colder skin against his own.

And not long after that he _really_ was in danger of imminent sleep. Much as he was loathe to break the moment, it would be even more unfair not to mention the last bit of information he had found out. "So...should I give you the bad news now or wait a bit?" he murmured.

Vayu pulled off of him with a start, having not been expecting him to still be awake. "Pretty sure that was bad news."

"Worse…news, then?"

Merely shaking his head in amusement, he gestured to lead Link to the couch so they could sit more comfortably. "Go ahead."

The light tone with which he spoke was painful to hear. Not out of any fault of his own, but that was exactly why Link winced. It was because he didn't know just how concerning this next part was. "Vayu, I…I'm so sorry."

"For what?" He laughed.

"When I was talking to Zelda's father," he dropped onto the cushion, "he told me…" If the news had been heavy at the time, now it was practically crushing. Head in his hands, Link took a deep breath. "He said that the Sages are starting to pay attention to me because of the rumors of a land beneath the cloud layer."

Despite the fact that he couldn't see Vayu, Link still felt his mood drop so quickly it should have left a dent in the floor. A full minute passed with the room practically silent. When Link finally turned to look at him, Vayu was curled up on the far side, staring blankly ahead. Even as he moved over to pull him into his lap, the only response he got was a slight whimper as he shook so hard he practically vibrated.

Goddess, Link hated seeing how badly this affected him, and the fact that he couldn't come up with a single reassurance based on an actual promise of Vayu's safety right now. More than ever he wished Zelda were here. Words came to her more easily, more quickly, and he knew she would have been able to say something useful. All Link could settle for was running his fingers through his hair and letting him ride out whatever thoughts were going through his mind right now.

Eventually, Vayu's trembling stilled. He at least had enough strength to move himself into a more comfortable position before resting back down again. After another moment, he spoke weakly. "Well, the robot really came at the most opportune time then. Can also use it to get me to some uninhabited island where it'd be safer."

Link froze. "Uninhabited… What are you saying? I would never do that to you!"

"I'm not saying a bare scrap of rock." He was speaking in the tone he had of working himself up in cold fear and in no position to handle being steered off-track. "One of the medium size ones with plants and everything but nothing special enough that anyone bothers with usually."

" _Absolutely not_. What if something happens to me?" That would leave him stranded forever and the thought of that was just… far too much to bear thinking of.

Vayu immediately grabbed onto the front of his tunic with both hands, pulling him to his face. " _Nothing_ is going to happen to you." Then, seeming to catch himself, he relaxed. "Besides, in that case there'd be a lot bigger concerns than me."

That was technically true, but in the moment Link couldn't care less about anything else. "Still no."

"Fine." Hugging his arms around himself, he flopped into something close to a normal seated position on the couch. "What else do you suggest? It's not safe- … _I_ wouldn't feel safe walking around Skyloft anymore. And I don't think staying holed up here will work for that long."

Link breathed out a sigh. "You could always come with me."

"And how do you see that being feasible?" he murmured.

"I mean, we did just have that whole long discussion about it." He half-laughed, reaching out to play with a strand of Vayu's hair.

Vayu dug his nails into his palm, turning away. "Well yeah, but…"

He watched him for a long time. Oh Vayu. When he was afraid for their lives it was easy to say 'screw the Goddess,' but now that it was a decision that he had time to think over, Link could see the fear and doubt surface. "You don't have to, but…at least come with me to the Surface? See what it's like. I could always get Scrapper to send you back whenever."

With eyes half lidded and mouth tipped down at the edges just enough to not be a flat line, Vayu looked back at him. Finally, he pressed his forehead against Link's arm. "Okay."

xxxxxxxx

Zelda splayed out across her bedroll, the kind of tired enough to not want to do anything but not enough to be able to fall asleep easily. After the success of her first try, it had been a bit of a letdown as her next attempts at communing with the Goddess produced less dramatic results. She'd been able to make the connection, but it had only been flashes of color, feelings without context, or just a mush of sensation. Impa, noticing her growing frustration and exhaustion, had suggested they take a break.

So here she was, trying her best not to languish in her pent-up emotion. This would all be so much easier if someone would just tell her what she was trying to do instead of having her fumble around cluelessly until she stumbled on the solution herself. Goddess, she hoped Link at least was having an easier time. With, you know, _whatever_ it was he was doing.

Then she started thinking about how she'd left him. About to fight the Demon Lord whose power was strong enough it was nauseating to be around (well, Link didn't have much of a developed sense of magic so at least he shouldn't be bothered by that). Dear Hylia, why had she not worried about him sooner? Not that there was anything more she could do, or any way she would even know what happened to him until _Goddess_ knows when.

"Something the matter?" Impa stood in the archway between the side room Zelda was in and the main temple area. She frowned in concern, having apparently walked by at some point in her growing agitation.

"I…" Much as she wanted to discuss her concerns, the memory of all the other times he'd been brought up held her back. Zelda really didn't want to get into another argument. Exhausting. If she could phrase it differently, though… "When we left the present," ( _future?_ she wondered. Time travel made things weird) "we left Link in a situation where he would have to fight the Demon Lord himself. If something happened to him…I mean, that would destroy the mission, right?"

Sighing, she shook her head before letting out a deep chuckle. "You're worried about him."

Zelda flinched, but otherwise didn't respond, bracing herself for a lecture.

Another long, deep sigh. Impa pressed the heel of her hand against her forehead, eyes squeezed shut for a long moment. Wrapping her arms around herself in a way that seemed more like shielding oneself than anything else, she finally titled her head in Zelda's direction. "Whatever comes to pass, the champion will succeed to rejoin us for the final effort."

"How do you know that?" Her demeanor immediately shifted with the news that she couldn't help but trust completely. And now she sat up, knees drawn in like an eager child at storytime.

"That…is rather complicated." Impa dropped her arms for a moment while she thought, only bringing them back up when she spoke again. "Most of the context is still information that would be unsafe for you to know. But I have been told by a trusted source the general fact that our efforts will be successful."

 _What's too complicated about saying that she talked with Hylia?_ That seemed the most logical way Impa could have gotten the information. Unless there was something about that situation that was dangerous for Zelda to know. Now that she was thinking about it, that scenario did open up a _lot_ of questions about Hylia's nature. And _now_ Zelda was realizing that she was in front of a person who might actually be able to _answer_ some of them.

Impa tried her best to remain outwardly impassive as she watched Zelda's thought process play out in a series of increasingly more excited expressions. She'd worried that referencing the brief conversation she'd had with her future self would incite Zelda to begin questioning her, and now it seemed she might indeed have to deal with that.

"Are my headaches happening because I'm in too close contact with the Goddess?"

"What…" Alright, that was certainly a different direction. She wasn't sure how to begin trying to answer that one.

Zelda waved a hand. "I obviously have this connection with Hylia because I've been getting information and, indirectly, instructions, and once or twice having my actions taken over directly which actually…is that normal because now that I'm thinking about it I don't actually know and if it isn't that's probably something we should be concerned about."

By this point Impa had completely frozen up concentrating on following Zelda's increasingly fast thinking out loud. Shoulders tensed, eyes wide, and brows arched, she had just gotten to a point where she thought she was processing what had been said when Zelda's pause for breath ended.

"But there's been a lot of discussion about the nature of divine versus mortal magic and whether it's just a question of scale or if they're _completely_ different in nature. And actually this is something you'll get from people on either side it's just the reasoning behind why that changes, but the idea is that the closer one gets to a purely divine source of magic, there's a point where it actually becomes harmful because as mortals we just aren't meant to process a deity's unrefined power. Which is why it has to be combined with something mundane or 'watered down'. _So_ , I thought that I was getting these pains because I was accidentally connecting with Hylia's power without that safety layer." Zelda beamed as she finished, everything about her exuding a brightness and energy.

It was that enthusiasm more than the contents that left Impa unsure of how to react. Obviously this was something Zelda had taken great personal interest in (the irony of which was not lost on Impa). For her, though, the concept of trying to reason out Hylia's nature was entirely foreign. Then again, from Her Grace's perspective, the Goddess hadn't been around in living memory and then some. Impa, having worked directly with Her, never had to wonder about such things. She tilted her head up towards the ceiling of the Temple. That had not been so long ago, for this place and for herself, and yet sometimes it felt a lifetime already.

As to actually answering her questions… "No. The pains are… There is a great deal of information that the Goddess has left for you, but since learning of it all at once would overwhelm you, there is a safeguard in place to keep that from happening." She watched in amusement as Zelda furrowed her brow. "Sometimes your mind slips past that. The strain is what translates into the physical pain." That was about as close as she could get to the truth, for now. Not that any of it was strictly a lie, either.

"Huh." Zelda stared at the wall so thoughtfully that she might've driven a hole into it. "But it's not the Goddess and her power that's doing it. How do you know?"

She laughed. "It's true that Hylia's power is one that cannot be matched by mortals, but if being physically next to Her has never harmed me, I doubt an indirect connection would." Rubbing the side of her neck, she continued a little fondly, "…not to mention that I have also shared magical communication with the Goddess, although not of the exact same nature that you are."

A noise escaped Zelda's mouth like steam from a kettle. Eyes wide, she gripped the fabric of her dress. After a while of looking like she was going to float away or explode (or possibly both), she finally managed a "You've…in her…so she _can_ manifest a physical form?!"

"Yes?" Again, she supposed she shouldn't judge the girl, but it was still hard not to feel like that was a ridiculous question.

Bouncing, she clapped her hands. "I knew it! I mean yes, technically it doesn't matter if Hylia is a force of magical nature that has a presence and some kind of consciousness not given physical form or an actual being who happens to be of divine nature or at least can be one if she chooses, but…" Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, suddenly self-conscious, Zelda shrugged. "I don't know. It's always just felt right."

Impa smiled at her fondly. Oh, if only she knew. When a few minutes passed without Her Grace saying anything more, she pushed off the wall she was leaning on. "I trust that assuages your doubts? For now, at least."

"Hm?" Her mind had to do some quick backtracking to process what had been said. "Oh. Yeah. I…as long as Link's going to be safe…that helps a lot. I just-" She played with one of her hair decorations. The next trail of thought she had been on weighed on her, needing _some_ kind of direction for itself. "You said you've talked with Hylia directly. This isn't me asking for it to happen either way, but…do you know if I'm going to end up face-to-face with her? I'd just like to try to prepare myself."

She opened her mouth, then slowly shut it again, frowning. While _she_ knew very well the answer was no, she couldn't come up with a good way to actually say that. "That is…not a situation I was informed to prepare for. However, it must also be said that I do not know what the future holds."

Zelda put a hand to her chin, narrowing her eyes in thought for a moment. Then, she nodded. "I see. Thank you, Impa."

Impa could only give a curt nod as she stepped away held together by a trained stance that fell apart after she turned the corner, hurrying off as inconspicuously as possible. She held a hand to her chest, as if that would slow the beating of her heart.

Just then, something in her voice had shifted, and that _smile_ …! It had been like she was looking at Her again.

Meanwhile, Zelda was very much struggling with a Goddess-related dilemma of her own. Speaking with Hylia directly: now that the possibility had been introduced, she couldn't get it out of her mind. It wasn't like she needed proof – she had always believed plenty, and even if she hadn't the things she'd already witnessed would have been enough – but still… it _would_ be a remarkable experience. Like something out of the old legends she'd shared with her friends, or the even older ones of the world before the sky that she'd clumsily translated in segments after hours in her room, hoping that she wouldn't get caught borrowing rare books again. She sat still as a statue while her mind swarmed with the possibilities.

And slowly wilted as it traipsed back to what had started this whole conversation. She was here, on this dangerous and world-changing mission for the Goddess, having never been given any choice in her participation. And yeah, maybe you could argue that in all her power, Hylia knew that Zelda would've accepted, but that didn't suddenly make it not incredibly rude to not go through with the simple act of _asking_. Even more so for Link, who didn't have the luxury of a bodyguard/guide and magic that let you bypass most traps and obstacles.

Zelda rolled up to standing, bare feet slamming against the ground. She set a fast pace around the perimeter of the room. When a few (admittedly short, the space wasn't that big) laps around did nothing for her mood or energy, she switched to drills. Channeling her aggression into something that at least pretended to be productive (and more importantly, with just enough structure to give her mind something to chew on) helped, if not to reduce it then at least to keep it from rising. It was kind of nice, actually. A little return to life before this, memories flowing back to her of doing much the same thing for study breaks on the training grounds. Weaving through the dappled light under the trees with the sound of her classmates in the distance. Link would usually doze off, and she and Vayu would take turns seeing how many handfuls of grass and flowers they could pile on him before he woke up.

She stopped mid-punch. Vayu, one of her best friends, a boyfriend, clever and energetic and so very often afraid for his life over the smallest thing because he lacked Hylia's blessing. And for no reason they could discern, even through as much research and study they could manage unnoticed. Zelda's anger surged back. _Why_? What kind of deity would put someone through this? All her efforts at composure going into not screaming, she waved her arms as she stomped around. Oooh when she got her hands on Hylia she was going to give her a piece of her mind, Goddess or no, whatever the consequences.

Of course, then her mind supplied the nasty thought that such an occurrence might incite the Goddess to cause some real harm to him. Especially if his current state wasn't in fact directly purposeful and Hylia decided to destroy one who did not fit with her design. She ground to a halt yet again. As much as the frustration still ate at her, there was no way she would take that risk.

Slowly, she forced herself back into drills, this time putting all her effort into the physical movement, in the hopes of tiring herself out of the thought she was mired in.

xxxxxxxx

Link returned from the Isle of Songs to immediately drop near where Groose and his pals had stashed his Loftwing. Checking to make sure no one else was around, he headed over towards the cave entrance.

Vayu jumped back when he first saw him approach. Seeing who it was, he relaxed back over the barrel next to him.

"You rolled that all the way here?"

He laughed. "I'm not going to _roll_ something when I could just do this." A snap of the fingers, and the barrel floated a few inches off the ground. Vayu set it back down. "And no. Just a favor. Since I'm not going to be around for the foreseeable future, I figured I might as well make use of them."

Shaking his head, he walked all the way over. "You and your favors."

"It's _helpful_." There was a pause, and then Vayu's expression shifted from dryly amused to solemn. "People think of you as the friendly guy who's always helping around. More likely to hesitate longer on doing anything to you then versus if you're just that weird stranger when they find out you're something that's not supposed to exist."

"You mean _if_." Link's stomach sunk horribly. It seemed he was still ruminating on what they'd talked about earlier.

Vayu looked at him sideways through the lock of hair he'd been twirling around his hand. "Yeah," he said flatly. "If." Then he turned sharply toward the island edge beside them. "How does this robot work, anyway?"

Oh Goddess, now _that_ hurt Link to watch. Clearly Vayu had decided they were done with that topic, and Link wasn't going to press. But… as much as Vayu had opened up over the years about what had happened when his old community had decided he'd gone too long without getting a Loftwing, and as much as he'd gotten better about telling the two of them when it was upsetting him, Vayu still just as often didn't want to talk about it, and especially not in any detail. And it pained Link every time he got a glimpse at that hurt. He wanted so badly to say something, to make him actually go into it all, but considering the situation, now was not the time to make things tense between them.

So instead of saying any of that, he simply stuttered out an "oh, right." Reaching back, he touched a hand to his sword. "Fi, if you could call Scrapper, please."

"Yes, Master Link."

A few moments later, the robot came whizzing down from the sky. "Mistress Fi! Here I am to serve you!"

"You know, you're right. They are kind of adorable."

Scrapper turned. "I am not! I am efficiently designed to perform to my greatest capacity! Master Shortpants, your companion requires his gears to be inspected."

Upon hearing the nickname, Vayu choked on his laugh.

"Oh, get in the barrel."

It took him awhile to recover enough that he could stand upright, but eventually he dropped his bag (which looked to be more full of books than anything else) into the barrel. From where he was standing, he hopped up with barely more effort than if he were skipping a stair. He landed with one foot on either side of the rim of the barrel.

Link rolled his eyes, trying not to let it show that the unconscious magic still astounded him. "Show off."

Flipping his hair, he dropped down inside.

"You sure you're okay with this?"

Vayu leaned out. "Yes." He put his hand on the side of Link's face. "This isn't anything like that time, I promise." A quick kiss. "Let's go."

Link jumped off the edge and onto his Loftwing and set out for the Faron beacon, Scrapper carrying Vayu's barrel in tow. The sky was relatively clear that day, and they made it over without incident. He circled the opening, looking to Vayu. "Ready?"

He nodded.

Giving Scrapper the signal, he jumped out through the hole in the cloud barrier. Link landed with no trouble, a really nice change from the screaming mess of last time. Then he realized Vayu hadn't landed yet and looked up just in time to be hit with a blast of wind.

Vayu dropped in a freefall quite long enough for Link to freak out that he'd frozen up or forgotten a sailcloth oh Goddess how was he even supposed to do anything about that. Then the air just _gathered_ around him, and instead of landing hard, he rolled, the excess momentum shooting him back up a few dozen feet in the air. It was then that Link realized he was laughing. Soft and unrestrained, sound in pale blue and gold and the idealized purple-gray-silver of clouds you only saw in pictures. It was beautiful, and Link could only watch in stunned silence as Vayu practically floated back down in front of him, touching ground with barely an impact at all.

"Link!" with a breathy exclamation, he threw his arms over Link's shoulders. His hair was wind-tossed and wild, his smile even more so. "I could kiss you that was so…" Vayu paused, blinking. Slower, more calmly. "Can I kiss you?"

"Yeah… I mean, I don't see why you're-"

Vayu cut him off as he yanked Link forward into a kiss. It was insistent but gentle, the two of them pressed up against each other. He pulled away slowly. Watched Link attempt to regain his bearings with a dreamy expression. "I love you."

"Mmm."

Then he laughed. "You do that every time you come down here? Why didn't you tell me about it? That was exhilarating!"

More like terrifying, by his definition. Living in the sky desensitized you to jumping from certain heights, but this was of a completely different magnitude. He'd gotten better, and the drop still turned _his_ insides. But Goddess, he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Vayu so happy.

"Just the feeling of the wind and it was so…" he made a series of incoherent noises, "I can _feel_ so much right now even though the air is really weird down here."

"The… _air_ is weird?" He tried to adjust Vayu's bangs, although he seemed not to notice the hair strewn haphazardly over his face.

"Yeah! There's so many more things around so the wind can't move the same and there's also just…more of it? And honestly I'm starting to get a bit claustrophobic from it so I don't even know how to sort that out."

Link shifted his grip to hold onto Vayu's forearms to support him better. "Do you need to go back up?"

Laughing messily, he shook his head. "Just need a minute. I think. Or, you know, the stress is _finally_ getting to me." A wild smile.

"Yeah…why don't you sit down." Considering that Vayu had said that last bit in the same weirdly energetic tone as everything else, Link was starting to worry the same thing. He guided Vayu to the base of the nearest tree and set down beside him. Other than passing some water over, Link simply sat in silence, trying to give him space.

Vayu sprawled faceup across the grass. With only the edge of the tree and the endless sky above in view, he already felt more stable. And as the breeze picked up, he felt like he could start to get acclimated to being down here. Besides, now he finally _was_ out of reach, untouchable. That definitely counted for a bit more than something.

It was quite a while later when he finally broke the silence. "Link?" Frowning at the lack of response, he rolled onto his side. He stifled a quiet laugh.

Link had fallen asleep slumped against the side of the tree, his hat down over his eyes. Considering how common a position it was to find him in, it was a wonder he'd only started wearing a hat with receiving a knight's uniform. Then again, Vayu mused, it wasn't as though Link usually needed light blocked out of his vision to fall asleep in the day. It was a charming addition, all the same.

Vayu leaned in closer. There were markings under Link's eyes that he'd never seen on him before, and he had to resist the urge to reach out and touch his face. He knew Link had been working himself ragged over the mission, but somehow this change struck him more than all of his injuries. It wasn't fair, but there was nothing he could do. Not anything that mattered anyway.

It didn't stop him from lying back down with the intent of at least giving Link a bit longer of a rest before they had to move again. As his gaze wandered, something occurred to him. Carefully, he poked Link in a specific spot on his side.

Immediately, he startled. "Wha-" he blinked. "What class are we late for?" Sitting up quickly, he stopped in the middle of getting to his feet as his surroundings registered. "Oh right." Then he noticed Vayu staring at him intently from where he was propped up against the tree. "What?"

"If there's a completely opaque cloud barrier that keeps everyone in the Sky from seeing or getting to the Surface, why is it that we have almost completely clear skies from this direction?"

He looked up. "Magic?" he said, straining his voice to make it clear he had no clue. "Wait, is that what you woke me up for?"

Vayu's half-smile was as good as an answer.

"At least I know you're feeling better," He shook his head, brushing grass off his pants. "Are you…?"

He sighed. "As much as I can be without a lot longer of a rest." No doubt this next task would stretch that back into distress again, but there really was no helping that. "Let's go."


End file.
